Luke Littler can’t forget his first taste of perfection: “I was 13. I came back from the Isle of Man and then we went into COVID and then I hit my nine-darter practicing,” the world champion tells ESPN. “I think my mum heard me from downstairs!”
His great rival Luke Humphries can remember every single one.
“I think [when I hit my first one] I was 16 or 17 in practice. I remember my first one on stage: that was in the European tour in Budapest. My first on TV was in the Premier League. So all three different feelings,” the world No. 2 recalls.
“The first one in the practice room obviously I was over the moon because I finally achieved while I’d always dreamed of doing. Then, obviously doing my first one on the stage, European tour, and my first one on terrestrial TV, which was amazing — no better feeling.”
The most commonly trod path towards perfection is 180, 180 and then treble 20, treble 19, double 12. An AI robot could no doubt nail the sequence every time, but to rattle it off via electrical signals sent between the brain and tip of a finger is to almost defy the laws of nature.
Nine perfectly thrown darts don’t just impress people, they make them feel.
The most famous of them all registered just before 8.30 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2023 as Alexandra Palace was still processing Michael van Gerwen’s missed dart at double 12. Michael Smith, still on course for his own slice of perfection, calmly placed his foot behind the oche. Treble 20: thunk. Treble 19: thunk. Double 12… thunk. Fists pumped, pints flew — unbridled joy testing the resilience of a 150-year-old Grade II listed landmark. A nine-dart finish in the PDC World Championship final that had Wayne Mardle speaking in tongues.
Announced on social media with caps lock and red alert emojis, these viral lightening in a bottle moments gatecrash the algorithm.
“It’s a great moment for the crowd. It’s a great moment for people watching on TV and following on social media. It’s great for the players,” PDC chief executive Matthew Porter tells ESPN with a broad grin. “Apart from the trophy lift, it’s probably the moments that people remember the most.”
Despite there being 3,944 routes available for a nine-dart finish, the path through the minefield is only navigable by those who have earned the right through accumulated days, weeks and years peppering a practice board.
PDC stats analyst Christopher Kempf says the chances of throwing a nine-darter are roughly the same as guessing the month, day and weekday on which an individual is born out of thin air — 2,557 to 1.
John Lowe earned £102,000 for the first televised perfect leg in 1984 and it wasn’t until 1990 that Paul Lim became the first to hit one in a World Championship. But the rising standards of professional darts means these once fleeting moments of transcendence are beginning to take on a pattern.
Based on the historical performance of current PDC Tour Card holders, Kempf says a professional might expect to hit a nine-darter once every 3½ years.
Michael van Gerwen has 30 recorded nine-darters and 10 on TV. During his peak he was hitting them with such consistency that he began exploring more unconventional routes to the finish. He’s even come within one throw of consecutive nine-darters — he threw 17 perfect darts against James Wade in their world championship semifinal in 2010 only to miss double 12 with his 18th.
And yet, three years after his breakthrough, Littler has already registered almost half as many televised nine-darters (4) as that managed by Van Gerwen (10) and Phil Taylor (11).
‘The Nuke’ is on something of a nine-darter dry spell of late, though, and has admitted he’s tempted to take more unusual routes to the checkout in a bid to avoid that nerve-shredding double 12.
Do the best players in the world know when they’re in the zone and a nine-darter is just around the corner?
“Obviously [I hit nine-darters] when I’m practicing, [but in recent tournaments] I’m going back-to-back 180s and then just can’t get that seventh, eighth or ninth dart in. But as a professional, when it does come you will expect it,” Littler admits.
With five nine-darters on display during last year’s Premier League campaign, the sellout crowds will turn up expecting them too.
Nevertheless, each one still requires its own chapter in the beer-soaked annals of darts history. Smith’s nine-darter against ‘MVG’ is perhaps the sport’s most famous moment.
Having stood behind ‘Bully Boy’ for the telling throws in what is now referred to as ‘the greatest leg of all time,’ does Van Gerwen ever watch it back? “No,” he tells ESPN, firmly. “It’s only people like you who keep reminding me.”
– The Littler effect: How ‘The Nuke’ changed darts like Woods changed golf
