Nine-dart finish
[1] At the 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters, Luke Littler became the youngest player to hit a televised nine-darter, accomplishing the feat two days before his 17th birthday.
In such games, throwing for double 20 first can lead to a maximum score of 160 with the first shot, leaving the thrower commonly requiring 180 then 161 (T20, T17, bullseye) with their remaining six darts, though other outshots are possible.
The first televised nine-dart finish was achieved at the MFI World Matchplay on 13 October 1984 by John Lowe,[5] who checked out 141 with T17, T18, D18 after scoring two maximum 180s.
[7][8] Despite having achieved the feat a record 11 times, Taylor never hit a nine-darter in the World Championship, missing a chance on the outside wire of double 12 in his last match in the 2018 Final.
The youngest player to throw a televised nine-darter is Luke Littler, who hit the perfect leg in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters.
In the second round of the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton, James Wade hit his first televised nine-dart-finish against Gary Anderson.
Mervyn King hit his first televised nine-dart finish in the 2009 South African Masters in September 2009 against Wade, becoming the first player do so outside of Europe.
[9] On 24 May 2010, in the Premier League final against Wade, Taylor made history by being the first player to ever hit two nine-dart finishes in a single match.
[10][11] On 10 February 2017, Michael van Gerwen became the second player to hit two nine-dart finishes in a match, in a 2017 UK Open qualification event against Ryan Murray.
[12] Brendan Dolan was the first player ever to hit a nine-darter in a double-in double-out game, doing so in the semi-final of the 2011 World Grand Prix against James Wade on 8 October.
In October 2014 at the World Grand Prix, Wade and his opponent Robert Thornton became the first players to both hit a nine-darter in the same match.
[16] On 17 February 2022, Gerwyn Price achieved two nine-dart finishes on the same day, doing so in two separate matches during night 3 of the 2022 Premier League Darts during a win against Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final, and then against James Wade in the final.
[22] On 23 December 2012 at the 2013 World Championship, Dean Winstanley hit a nine-dart finish in the third leg of the third set in his second round defeat to Vincent van der Voort.
[23] Another nine-dart finish at this Championship was achieved by Michael van Gerwen in his semi-final victory over James Wade in the third leg of the fifth set.
[24] On 14 December 2013 at the 2014 World Championship, Terry Jenkins and Kyle Anderson both hit nine-darters in their first round losses against Per Laursen and Ian White, respectively.
After Smith successfully completed his finish, popular commentator Wayne Mardle famously said 'I can't speak!
[33] The following table lists the number of perfect legs recorded by players who have scored multiple nine-darters in televised matches.
Prior to the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, title sponsors Paddy Power announced that they would be giving out a total of £180,000 for every nine-dart finish hit in the tournament, with the player, a spectator in the crowd and Prostate Cancer UK receiving £60,000 each.
It came in a match against Robert Hughes during the qualifying rounds for the 1996 BDO World Championship on 30 November 1995 at Earls Court, London.
[93] Claire Stainsby and Glen Durrant made history when they recorded the first ever nine-dart finish in mixed pairs competition at the 2013 BDO International Open in Brean, Somerset.
[97] Ten-time World Champion Trina Gulliver revealed she has twice missed her last dart to record a nine-dart finish.
[100] On 25 August 2023, Sherrock made history once again, as she became the first woman ever, to hit a televised 9 darter, during the Modus Super Series: Online Darts Live League.
