Nine dart finish – how do the world’s best darters do it?

Winning a leg of nine darts is a great dream of every darter – both amateur and professional. However, there are outstanding specialists on the globe, who have succeeded in this art more than once. These are, of course, the world stars of this sport, which invariably enjoys the greatest popularity in the British Isles.

Closing the leg in nine darts (the so-called nine dart finish) is nothing more than scoring the required 501 points in just three attempts at the target. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, this was a world-class event, but nowadays it happens much more often, especially at championship-level competitions.

The unrivalled expert in lightning fast finishes is the brilliant 31-year-old Michael van Gerwen. The three-time winner of the PDC World Darts Championship has finished a leg in nine darts as many as 24 times in his professional career, including seven times in major events. “Everyone always thinks I’m a robot, but I’m not. I have to work really hard to win” – says the popular Mighty Mike about his achievements.

Right behind the phenomenal Dutchman, however, is former perennial hegemon Phil Taylor. During his 20-year dart career, the Englishman won a staggering 77 different dart titles, and finished with a nine-dart finish 22 times (including 11 in televised tournaments). Among the active players the impressive achievements of Raymond van Barneveld (10 ndf / 5 on TV), Wes Newton (5/1) and Michael Smith (4/1) can also be boasted.

The work mentioned by van Gerwen means hundreds of thousands of shots not only in the training room, but also… in English pubs. It’s not a secret that one of the favorite pastimes of the British is dart. Sometimes it happens that as part of the exercises professional players compete against amateurs, for whom it is quite a treat.

The winner of last year’s Champions League of Darts does not intend to stop at 24 perfect legends. The closest opportunity to increase the record will come at the October’s World Grand Prix in Coventry, in which Polish representative – Krzysztof Ratajski will take part. So far, however, the athlete with the striking nickname The Polish Eagle has failed to record a win in nine darts.

Featured photo: Sven Mandel / Wikipedia