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World Darts Championship: The Perfect Leg - All Nine-Dart Finishes
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World Darts Championship Nine-Dart Legs: All-time list, perfect legs in finals & checkout routes

Requiring nine perfect darts to take out a score of 501, the nine-dart finish is the ultimate darting achievement.

There's no finer privilege as a darts fan than watching a player execute the perfect leg, and we've been fortunate to witness plenty of them down the years at the World Darts Championship.

A nine-dart finish in any game is an incredible accomplishment but to do it at the Alexandra Palace is an extra special feat.

Let's take a look through the history of the perfect leg at the World Darts Championship.

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World Darts Championship - Every nine-dart finish

How many nine-dart legs have there been in the World Darts Championship?

There have been a total of 16 perfect legs at the World Darts Championship, all of which are listed below:

Paul Lim (v Jack McKenna)

1990

Raymond van Barneveld (v Jelle Klaasen)

2009

Raymond van Barneveld (v Brendan Dolan)

2010

Adrian Lewis (v Gary Anderson)

2011

Dean Winstanley (v Vincent van der Voort)

2013

Michael van Gerwen (v James Wade)

2013

Terry Jenkins (v Per Laursen)

2014

Kyle Anderson (v Ian White)

2014

Adrian Lewis (v Raymond van Barneveld)

2015

Gary Anderson (v Jelle Klaasen)

2016

James Wade (v Stephen Bunting)

2021

William Borland (v Bradley Brooks)

2022

Darius Labanauskas (v Mike De Decker)

2022

Gerwyn Price (v Michael Smith)

2022

Michael Smith (v Michael van Gerwen)

2023

Christian Kist (v Madars Razma)

2024

Damon Heta (v Luke Woodhouse)

2024

World Darts Championship - Nine-dart history

The iconic Paul Lim was the first player to hit a nine-dart finish at the BDO World Championships, two years before the PDC was formed.

We had to wait 19 years before the second one as Raymond van Barneveld delivered the perfect leg against compatriot Jelle Klaasen. Only Van Barneveld and Adrian Lewis have hit two nine-darters in World Championship history, with the Dutchman repeating the feat a year later against Brendan Dolan to send the Barney Army into a frenzy.

Jackpot recorded his first nine-dart finish in the 2011 final against Gary Anderson and was at it once again in 2015 against Van Barneveld, although Barney did come out on top in their third round clash.

One of the most unforgettable nine-darters came from Dean Winstanley in 2013. Horrendously out of form and trailing Vincent van der Voort by two sets, the Rotherham darter put together the perfect leg to spark wild scenes at Ally Pally.

Winstanley's nickname was 'Over the Top', which you could argue was an appropriate description of his celebration as he sprinted across the main stage with unrivalled glee.

Winstanley was not the only one to hit a nine-darter that year as Michael van Gerwen came within millimetres of achieving the unthinkable. Mighty Mike decided one nine-darter was not enough, leaving James Wade to watch on helplessly in the next leg, producing eight more perfect darts before wiring double 12.

There were two more in 2014 courtesy of Terry Jenkins and Kyle Anderson, although both players subsequently suffered defeat in their respective matches.

"The Flying Scotsman" Gary Anderson etched his name into the record books in 2016, producing a nine-dart finish in the semi-final against Klaasen before going on to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for a second time.

We had to wait five years for the next one. James Wade delivered the 11th nine-dart leg in World Championship history, albeit before an empty Ally Pally.

Crowds returned the following year and with it came a flurry of nine-darters. First up was William Borland, who created history by hitting a sensational nine-dart finish to win a deciding leg against Bradley Brooks.

Less than 24 hours after Borland's heroics came the turn of Darius Labanauskas, with the Lithuanian finishing on a 147 to win the opening set against Mike De Decker.

Darts fans received another early Christmas present thanks to Gerwyn Price, who produced his first-ever televised nine-dart finish and a record-breaking third of the 2022 World Championships.

Michael Smith then won the greatest leg in darts history when achieving perfection against Van Gerwen in the 2023 final and the epic tussle concluded with Bully Boy being crowned world champion.

Former BDO - now WDF - world champion Christian Kist then hit the 15th nine-darter at the World Championship, taking the first set against Madars Razma, albeit going on to lose the match.

Then came the turn of Damon Heta, who delivered the second nine-dart leg of the 2025 World Championships in a third round clash against his good friend Luke Woodhouse, though he ultimately lost the match 4-3.

Nine-dart method

How do you get a nine-dart finish?

It's a mind-boggling statistic but the total number of different ways you can achieve 501 with nine darts is actually 3,944!

There is the traditional route, which requires a score of 60 (treble 20) with each of the first six throws to leave 141. Players will then take out treble 20 and treble 19 before finishing on double 12.

That method is detailed below:

Treble 20, Treble 20, Treble 20 (321 remaining)
Treble 20, Treble 20, Treble 20 (141 remaining)
Treble 20, Treble 19, Double 12

We have witnessed some professionals hitting treble 19 with their second set of darts before returning to finish with two treble 20s and double 12.

Other unconventional ways to finish 141 are:

Treble 20, Treble 15, Double 18
Treble 17, Treble 18, Double 18

And one other way to hit a nine-darter is scoring 167 with each set of three darts. An extremely difficult route, this would require three consecutive throws of treble 20, treble 19 and bullseye.

Nine-darters in World Darts Championship finals

Until 2023, only Adrian 'Jackpot' Lewis had hit a nine-darter in a World Championship final.

Opposing Gary Anderson in the 2011 final, Lewis made history as he produced the perfect leg before going on to win the first of his two world titles.

Twelve years on, the incredible feat was achieved again in the most astonishing circumstances.

Michael Smith's final against Michael van Gerwen was dubbed one for the ages pre-match and it certainly lived up to the billing. With the contest heating up, we witnessed the most extraordinary piece of darting history.

"They're both on a nine," Wayne Mardle cried as both Smith and Van Gerwen pinned consecutive 180s. The Dutch star was up first, hitting treble 20 twice but missing double 12.

Then it was the turn of Bully Boy, who went treble 20, treble 19 and double 12 to send the Ally Pally crowd into raptures.

There have been some other close calls as well.

Phil Taylor, in the 2018 final against Rob Cross, came mightily close to a nine-dart finish in his last ever competitive match, skimming the wire of double 12.

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