A nine-dart finish is the hardest feat in darts: clearing a 501 leg in just nine darts. The odds are so long that most pros go their whole careers hitting only a handful, let alone doing it live on camera, in a final, under pressure. Here are two moments with a full, verifiable record: the first one ever hit in a World Championship final, and one commentators and fans still call "the greatest leg ever."
Just how hard is a nine-dart finish
The standard route is two rounds of three triple-20s (T20), then a final round finishing with something like T20, T19 and double 12. All nine darts have to land, and any single miss adds a tenth dart. It's shown up rarely in televised pro darts history, and every time it has, it gets clipped and replayed for years.
2011: Adrian Lewis hits the first World Championship final nine-darter ever
Adrian Lewis threw a nine-dart finish against Gary Anderson in leg 3 of set 1 at the PDC World Championship final on 3 January 2011, the first one ever recorded in a World Championship final. The leg is often pointed to as the turning point of that match; Lewis went on to win 7–5 for his first world title.
2023: the "greatest leg ever," Van Gerwen one dart short, Smith finishes it off
Twelve years later, a similar scene played out, even more dramatically. At the 2023 World Championship final, Michael van Gerwen against Michael Smith, in leg 3 of set 2, van Gerwen landed his first eight darts perfectly and needed only double 12 for his own nine-dart finish. He missed it. Smith then stepped up and ran the exact same route, treble 20, treble 20, double 12, without missing a single dart, completing the nine-darter himself. The commentators' reaction was clipped and shared for years afterward, and the leg is widely referred to by media as "the greatest leg ever."
What happened after: Smith's first world title
Smith went on to beat van Gerwen 7–4 in that final, winning his first world title and reaching world No. 1 for the first time. That nine-darter wasn't just a lucky moment: it was the turning point of the whole final. Van Gerwen came one dart from seizing the momentum back, and instead it was Smith who set the tone for the rest of the match.
Curious just how hard nine darts really is? Grab a board and try a 501 yourself. Want to understand PPD/MPR before you start practising? Check our PPD/MPR training guide; want to know where your own game might be stalling? See how darts pros adjust. AI DARTS' Phoenix boards run self-service 24 hours if you want to give it a go, menu here.