From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A nine dart finish is the ultimate checkout in the game of darts, constituting a perfect game. It is notoriously difficult to achieve, even by the game's top professionals. It is considered to be the highest single-game achievement in the sport, similar to a maximum 147 break in snooker, a 300-point game in bowling, a perfect game in baseball, a golden set in tennis or batting six sixes in an over in cricket.

Methods of achievement

A single game (known as a leg) of darts requires a player to score 501 points, ending with either the bullseye or a double. As a result of the combinations of scoring it means that nine throws is the minimum necessary. Although other combinations are possible, the traditional way requires a score of 60 (treble 20) with each of the first six darts, leaving 141.

This outshot is traditionally performed in one of three ways:

• treble 20 (60), treble 19 (57) and double 12 (24)
• treble 18 (54), treble 17 (51) and double 18 (36)
• treble 20 (60), treble 15 (45) and double 18 (36)

There are two ways to perform the 141 outshot with a bullseye finish:

• treble 17 (51), double 20 (40), and bullseye (50)
• treble 19 (57), double 17 (34), and bullseye (50)

Also possible are:

• treble 20 (60), treble 17 (51) and double 15 (30)
• treble 19 (57), treble 18 (54) and double 15 (30)
• treble 19 (57), treble 16 (48) and double 18 (36).

Another way is to score 167 with each set of three darts, scoring a perfect 501 total, in the following way:

• treble 20 (60), treble 19 (57) and bullseye (50)

This eliminates the chance of any dart being deflected by an already thrown dart into the wrong scoring area by throwing each dart at a different location on the board. It is only usually seen in exhibition matches as, in tournaments, players are inclined to aim for the triple 20, only switching to the triple 19 for a cover shot.

Arguably the hardest nine dart finish would be 180 (3xT20), 171 (3xT19), and 150 (3xBULL) - owing to the difficulty of getting all three darts in the same bed (the bullseye is the smallest double on the board).

A nine dart finish is also attainable in games which require a double to commence scoring, though the scoring patterns seen are typically different. In such games, throwing for double 20 first can lead to a maximum score of 160 with the first throw, leaving the thrower commonly requiring 180 then 161 in their remaining six darts, though other outcomes are possible. It is worth noting that in these games, only throwing for double 20, double 17 or bullseye to start the leg can result in a nine dart finish.

Another, sometimes overlooked method of achieving a 9 darter is 180 (3xT20) 151 (T20,D20,T17 / T18,T19,D20 / T20,T19,D17 or a highly unlikely BULL,BULL,T17) all of which leave 170, the top finish possible in Darts achieved by T20,T20,BULL.

The total number of different ways of achieving 501 with 9 darts is 3944, of which 2296 finish with the BULL, 672 end on D20, 792 on D18, 56 end with D17, 120 finish on D15, and just 8 end with D12.

First televised nine-darter

The first televised nine dart finish was achieved at the World Matchplay championship on October 13, 1984 by John Lowe,^[1][2] who used the second method (with the T17 first, then T18, D18) above as his outshot after scoring two maximum 180s. For this he received a prize of £102,000, and he went on to win the whole event.

World Championship nine-darters

The first player to manage the outshot in the world championship was American player Paul Lim on January 9, 1990 against Ireland's Jack McKenna. He favoured the first method of those listed above for his outshot.^[3] Lim won a £52,000 bonus for the feat, which was more than the eventual tournament winner, who claimed £24,000 for becoming World Champion.

Even with two versions of the World Championship in operation, Lim's achievement was not repeated for nearly 19 years, although several players came close in that time (Dave Askew, Mervyn King, Denis Ovens and Mark Walsh having each missed the final double on their attempts).

On January 2, 2009 Raymond van Barneveld became only the second person to achieve the feat and the first since the split in darts. The finish came against Jelle Klaasen at the quarter-final stage of the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace, and he claimed a £20,000 bonus prize (having rolled over from three previous tournaments since Phil Taylor's nine-darter at the UK Open). On 28th December 2009 he repeated the feat at the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship during his second round clash with Brendan Dolan netting him a £25,000 prize.

Most prolific nine-darters

Phil Taylor has achieved this feat more than any other darts player on television,^[4] having done so six times: the first on August 1, 2002 during a quarter final tie at the 2002 PDC World Matchplay in Blackpool,^[5] consecutive years at the UK Open in Bolton, on June 5, 2004 against Matt Chapman,^[6] on June 12, 2005 against Roland Scholten,^[7] the fourth came on May 8, 2007 against Raymond van Barneveld at the International Darts League in the Netherlands.^[8] His fifth perfect game came on June 9, 2007 at the 2007 UK Open against Wes Newton—this was Taylor's third nine-darter in the Bolton event.^[9] His sixth nine-darter came on June 7, 2008 again at Bolton at the UK Open 2008, when he went 180, 177, 144 finishing on double 12.

Taylor also hit a nine-dart finish whilst practicing for his Premier League match on 20 March 2008. Sky's cameras were following his practice session as he achieved the feat and broadcast it towards the end of the show after Taylor had beaten his opponent James Wade. It is not classed as an official nine-dart finish.

Raymond van Barneveld achieved his first televised nine-dart finish on March 23, 2006 during the Professional Darts Corporation Premier League competition.^[10] His second, on January 2, 2009 against Jelle Klaasen, was the first ever seen in the PDC World Darts Championship and made him the only person besides Phil Taylor to have thrown more than one televised perfect leg. On December 28, 2009 he achieved his third against Brendan Dolan during the PDC World Darts Championship 2010.

James Wade achieved three nine-dart finishes during a calendar year (2006) in tournament play at the UK Open North West finals in March, the PDPA event in Hayling in June and the Vauxhall Open in November.^[11] However, none of the events were televised. Wade changed his playing nickname from the Gladiator to 009, a play on James Bond and reference to his nine-dart achievements.

Wade's first televised nine-darter, came against Gary Anderson at the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton on 20 November 2008, shown live on ITV4. It was the first time the feat had been achieved live on terrestrial, free-to-air television in the UK.

The 2007 International Darts League became the first televised tournament to witness two nine-darters when Phil Taylor's effort was matched the following day (May 9) by another perfect game from Tony O'Shea against Adrian Lewis.^[12]

Other televised nine-darters

John Walton hit a nine-darter in the Winmau World Masters on November 17, 2007.^[13] It was broadcast (although not live) on BBC television — the first nine-darter on the channel since Paul Lim's at the 1990 World Championship.

Jason Clark hit a nine-darter during the German TV PartyPoker.net German Darts Championship on December 1, 2007.^[14] Later the same day at the same tournament at the Gerry Weber Stadion in Halle, Raymond van Barneveld repeated the feat.^[14] both were televised on German TV.

Youngest nine-darter

The youngest player to throw a televised nine-darter is Michael van Gerwen, who hit the perfect leg in the semi-finals of the Masters of Darts tournament in the Netherlands. The event was screened live in the Netherlands. Van Gerwen was just &0000000000000017.00000017 years, &0000000000000298.000000298 days old at the time. The Dutch youngster scored 174 (T20, T19, T19) and 180, then checked out 147 with T20, T17, D18. Van Gerwen's nine-darter was the first live televised nine-darter that did not start with two 180s.^[15]

List of televised nine-darters

See also

• Change-making problem - making particular numbers with given denominations

External links

• Video of John Lowe's 9 dart finish v Keith Deller – World Matchplay 1984
• Video of Paul Lim's 9 dart finish v Jack McKenna – World Championship 1990
• Video of Shaun Greatbatch's 9 dart finish v Steve Coote – Dutch Open 2002
• Video of Colin Lloyd's 9 dart finish v Dennis Priestley – Irish Open 2006
• Video of Michael van Gerwen's 9 dart finish v Raymond van Barneveld – Masters of Darts 2007
• Video of Phil Taylor's fourth 9 dart finish v Raymond van Barneveld – International Darts League 2007
• Video of Raymond van Barneveld's 9 dart finish v Jelle Klaasen – PDC World Championship 2009
• Video of Raymond van Barneveld's 9 dart finish v Brendan Dolan – PDC World Championship 2010

References