The greatest ever reaction to a nine-darter? Dean Winstanley certainly enjoyed this effort back in 2012 against Vincent Van der Voort!
"Only person watching that game hoping he didn't hit one": Dean Winstanley was desperate for no second Van Gerwen nine-darter to keep £15,000 bonus
PDCTuesday, 26 December 2023 at 11:03
Dean Winstanley's main moment to be remembered was his memorable nine-dart finish at the 2013 PDC World Darts Championship. In the same Ally Pally as Michael van Gerwen produced his near 18 perfect darts.
Speaking about his memorable moment, he admitted he was the only one who hoped Van Gerwen would not go back-to-back to keep his bonus.
“I was on £15,000 bonus when I hit it, and then Van Gerwen hit his about three days later,” Winstanley told Daily Star Sport. “We split it £7,500 each, but if his D12 went in back-to-back, I would have been on a third [of the prize money].
“I was the only person watching that game hoping he didn't hit one, let alone two! I can remember putting something on Twitter about leaving my nine alone.
“There were a couple of back-to-back 180s earlier in the tournament, but they missed the seventh treble. Van Gerwen went and hit it. I did congratulate him. £7,500 is better than having nothing, and you've got to be thankful for that.”
“I'm glad I hit it because it went into the darts hall of fame, I was the third person and the fourth nine-darter at the worlds,” he added. “Everyone loves the bravado and persona about it, me running like a complete lunatic.
"There were no nerves while I was hitting it. I used to use a referee's mistake to my advantage, so when the game is over I could go 'aha, I've got you'.
"It was Bruce Spendley. He wasn't quick enough the leg before to tell Vincent you need 144. I thought 'aha, I've got you'. That was in my head. I hit the 180. If you watch the video, I nod towards Bruce.
"I hit the next 180, and thought 'you're not going to get it'. But then my right leg knew the D12 was in before my head. It was completely bonkers. It hit every news channel, which I thought was bonkers.”
It's been a different life since though for Winstanley who now has a new career running a haulage company and has gone all around the world after 'Over the Top' ended his stint at the top and while he harbours ambitions still to play the World Seniors is more likely than PDC.
"I'd already done my Class 2 and Class 1, and I was driving power tanks for three years," he said. "But I wanted to do this transport game on my own and see if I can make it.
"I started with a small truck and a trailer. One of my darts sponsors, Pro Liquid, we kept a good relationship and they rung and asked about what I was doing.
"I went over and had a chat with them, they sort liquid cargo handling, and they asked if I wanted to do the transport for them with a bigger truck and move all the gear around Europe.
"I did a lot of research and realised it would cost about £70,000 just to start small. I give it a go, and was asked by Pro Liquid if I wanted to work on the ship.
"Three years later and I run ships all over the world. I've been to Texas, been to Thailand, 350 miles in sea, had to get helicoptered out. I can run all the ships and pump the gear off when the ships can't do it."
"I won't go back to Q-School. But my goal is when I'm 49, put a bit of work in. My goal is to spend six to eight months to get everything right and I want play seniors.
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