The allure of the nine-dart finish

Every story has a beginning, middle and an end. It must be told in three parts. Darts lends itself perfectly to that structure, three darts in hand at every visit.

The nine-dart finish takes it even further with three lots of three adding up neatly to perfection - 501 points scored in three visits, the wait between them ratcheting up the tension even further. 

The sound of tungsten into the board. One dart, cheers, two darts, louder, three, a crescendo.

In the Alexandra Palace crowd pints are thrown into the air, punters dressed as cops hug punters dressed as robbers, the opposition player offers a handshake of congratulation. 

There has often been a debate about which is more impressive - a hole in one, a nine-darter or a 147 break. But in the social media age one is perfect, hitting a kind of Goldilocks middle ground of modern attention spans.

In the present day, the 147 is too long, too considered, too slow to make an impact. 

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record maximum is one of the most impressive feats in sport but it still clocks in at over five minutes, a bit much for the TikTok generation.

By contrast the hole in one is just one action, too short, too beholden to luck to really resonate.

Rightly or wrongly, people may think that they could fluke one.

A nine-darter is the perfect middle ground, long enough to keep you hoping but short enough to keep you interested. The incredibly difficult made to look effortlessly easy.

Three lots of three. The tension building with each dart on the way to perfection, an inch too high or too low and the chance has gone. The tightrope is walked on every dart, with the slightest error enough to bring the whole thing to an end.

In last year’s PDC World Darts Championship final, Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith demonstrated that tension perfectly.

After eight perfect darts MVG missed double 12 for the leg before Bully Boy followed him to the oche to hit the nine-darter.

The back-and-forth between the two finalists as they slammed in perfect dart after perfect dart, coupled with the roar of the crowd and the frenzied commentary from Wayne Mardle and Stuart Pyke sent the ‘best leg of all time’ viral around the world.

The clip has been watched millions of times across various social media platforms, leading to a boom in popularity in the sport that recently held its first ever event at Madison Square Garden, one of the most iconic venues in the world.

From when Paul Lim hit the first nine-darter in a world championship in 1990 it has been a feat that has captivated audiences and been alluringly out of reach for many players. Phil Taylor, despite winning a record 16 world titles, never hit a nine-darter in the World Championships. 

In fact only 14 players had managed perfection at the PDC World Darts Championship before this year’s event, with journeymen and superstars side by side on the roll of honour.

Darius Labanauskas, Willie Borland and Terry Jenkins stand alongside Raymond van Barneveld, Adrian Lewis and Gerwyn Price as having raised the roof at the Alexandra Palace with a nine-dart leg. The depth of quality in the current darting world means that there look set to be more and more nine-darters, each with their own story.

The famous leg in last year’s final showed the power of the nine-darter, the way it captivates and confounds.

501. Three lots of three. A beginning, a middle and an end. The story continues.

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