Raymond van Barneveld has admitted that he has been surprised with how comfortable that he felt playing darts while wearing glasses after reaching the semi-finals of the European Championships.

The Dutchman defeated Simon Whitlock, Vincent van der Voort and Peter Wright before losing to eventual winner Michael van Gerwen, but despite failing to make the final, the five-time world champion has revealed that he has been happy with the transition.

The 47-year-old is quoted by PDC.TV as saying: "I never ever thought that I'd play darts wearing glasses, but why not? As long as the trebles and doubles keep going in then I'll stick with them.

"My manager has returned from being overseas since the World Grand Prix and he said that we had to do something new; to practice every single day, to do more exercise, do a new food programme and try the glasses.

"My vision is much better and I played some good darts during the weekend but I also didn't hit the averages I wanted to. Hopefully in the next few months, I can get my confidence back but they're definitely helping me."

Van Barneveld will next play at The Masters this weekend ahead of the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.