Speechless Wayne Mardle lost voice for three weeks after bizarre José de Sousa finish

Wayne Mardle is known as a very enthusiastic and excitable commentator on Sky Sports darts coverage, but a striking moment left "Hawaii 501" unable to utter a word.

It all happened during the sixteenth round of play in the 2021 Premier League Darts. In the second match of the evening, Nathan Aspinall and José de Sousa faced each other. In the first leg, De Sousa had 120 points left and the finish that "The Special One" was about to throw moments later would make for one of the most remarkable commentary moments in darts history.

''He's hit a disgusting 41 to leave 120 and I'm thinking please go three tops, please hit it,'' Mardle looked back on the Portuguese's famous finish with presenter Dan Dawson. ''I didn't realise it was going to finish me for three weeks!"

The moment things went wrong with Mardle's voice was the moment Mardle shouted ''stop it right now,'' through his microphone as De Sousa also swung his third arrow into the double 20. ''Nigel Pearson (now deceased commentator, ed.) sat next to me and as I went 'right now' he give it that ( pulls an open-mouthed expression). With that I was out of there."

''It was just Jose being Jose. The thing is you do it in exhibitions, you don't do it against Nathan Aspinall in the first leg of a Premier League game,'' Mardle concluded. Watch the footage with José de Sousa's 120 finish and Wayne Mardle's special commentary back in the video below.