Michael van Gerwen in the final. He eliminated reigning champion Adrian Lewis 9–3 at the UK Open, but then lost a televised match against Peter Wright for the first time as he was comprehensively beaten 9–1. In week seven of the Premier League, Van Barneveld defeated Taylor 7–4, despite Taylor averaging 115.80, the highest losing average in the history of televised darts. Van Barneveld survived relegation by leg difference, but then won six of his last seven matches to qualify for the play-offs. It included 7–2, 7–3 and 7–2 victories over Taylor, Van Gerwen and Lewis respectively. From 4–4 in the semi-finals against Van Gerwen, Van Barneveld won three successive legs which included missing double 12 for a nine-darter. However, Van Gerwen then took five legs on the trot and went on to win 10–8. The pair were knocked out in the semi-finals of the World Cup in a doubles match against Scotland's Anderson and Wright. He was eliminated in the first round of the World Matchplay for the first time in his career when Andy Hamilton beat him 10–7. Van Barneveld missed five championship darts in the final of the last leg of the Auckland Darts Masters to lose 11–10 against Lewis. He reached his first Pro Tour final in nearly two years at the 16th Players Championship, but lost 6–4 to Jelle Klaasen. Van Barneveld beat Larry Butler to qualify from his group at the Grand Slam and then came past James Wade 10–7 and Mark Webster 16–12 to reach the semi-finals, where he lost 16–12 to Taylor. 2016 season At the 2016 World Championship, Van Barneveld edged past Stephen Bunting in a final set decider for a second year in a row and then played Michael van Gerwen, who he had lost to 10 times out of 13 throughout 2015. Van Barneveld won 4–3, despite Van Gerwen averaging 105.78 which was at the time the highest to ever lose a match in the event. A third successive match went the distance in the quarter-finals after Van Barneveld recovered from a 3–0 deficit against Michael Smith. In the final set he survived one match dart from Smith and Van Barneveld won four legs in a row to move into the semi-finals where he played Adrian Lewis. This time he was 5–0 down and then won a trio of sets, but his poor start cost him as he lost