A nine-dart finish is often described as a “perfect leg”, but which players from the elite club have pulled it off at the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace?

Event sponsor Paddy Power has launched ‘The Even Bigger 180’ for the 2025/26 season, with each nine-dart leg offering a cash prize of £180,000 to be shared equally between the winning player, Prostate Cancer UK and one lucky fan in the crowd.

John Lowe became the first player in history to hit a nine-dart on television against Keith Deller in the 1984 Match Play Championship, while Paul Lim also hit the nine-dart at the 1990 BDO World Championship.

The first televised nine-darts event at the PDC didn’t happen until the 2002 World Matchplay Championship, when Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor performed his magic kick against Chris Mason, although the first event at the PDC World Darts Championship didn’t happen until 2009 with Raymond van Barneveld.

Van Barneveld played against Jelle Klaassen that year and entered this year’s exhibition match. Live on Sky Sports Darts from 11 December – is one of only 16 registered players in the history of the tournament.

The former world champion and Adrian Lewis are the only players to have bowled nine darts multiple times at Alexandra Palace, but who else has done it? Take a closer look at those who showed off their “perfect legs” at the PDC World Darts Championship…

January 2009 – Raymond van Barneveld vs Jelle Klaassen

December 2009 – Raymond van Barneveld vs Brendan Dolan

January 2011 – Adrian Lewis VS Gary Anderson

December 2012 – Dean Winstanley vs. Vincent Vandervoort

December 2012 – Michael van Gerwen VS James Wade

December 2013 – Terry Jenkins vs. Per Laursen

December 2013 – Kyle Anderson vs. Ian White

December 2014 – Adrian Lewis vs Raymond van Barneveld

January 2016 – Gary Anderson vs. Jelle Klaasen

December 2020 – James Wade VS Stephen Bunting

December 2021 – William Bolan vs Bradley Brooks

December 2021 – Darius Labanauskas VS Mike De Decker

January 2022 – Gerwyn Price VS Michael Smith

January 2023 – Michael Smith VS Michael van Gerwen

December 2024 – Christian Kister VS Madas Razma

December 2024 – Damon Heta VS Luke Woodhouse

What is Nine Darts?

The nine-dart is considered the perfect kick in darts, with the minimum number of darts required to reach the target of 501 points being nine.

The most common way to achieve this is for the player to hit a treble 20 on each of their first six darts, leaving 141, and then hit a treble 20, treble 19, double 12 combination or hit a treble 20, treble 15, double 18.

The 141 checkout can also be achieved by hitting a treble 19, a treble 16 and a double 18 or a treble 17, a treble 18 and a double 18, while there are many other finishes – including 144, 164 and 167 – to complete the “perfect leg”.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? From 11 December to 3 January, you can watch every match live exclusively on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel (Sky Channel 407 from 10 December). Live stream darts and more top sports with NOW.