‘’That’s why my legs ran off and my head was still on the oche’’ - Dean Winstanley on hitting a nine-darter at the World Championship

From the BDO to the PDC Dean Winstanley’s darts career has seen many highs and he has played some of the very best players in the world at the highest level.

However, one of the jewels in the crown of 'Over The Top' Dean Winstanley is that he has done something that not all players can say, which is hitting a nine-darter at the PDC World Darts Championship.

'‘When any player hits a 180, they must think I am on for a 9, every player must think it, but to actually hit it is another thing… and I have to admit, I never thought for one minute it was going to go in, that’s why my legs ran off and my head was still on the oche'', Winstanley told MDA Events' YouTube channel.

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The match in question was in the last 32 of the 2013 World Championship against Vincent van der Voort, making Dean Winstanley only the fourth ever man to score a nine-darter on the TV stage at the World Championship. He followed in the footsteps of darts legends such as Adrian Lewis, Paul Lim and Raymond Van Barneveld (twice) who had achieved the result.

It only takes one look at the sheer joy and adulation on the face of Winstanley as his body tears away in celebration after this epic moment. Managed by Matt Ward at the time, Matt also gives his opinion on what it was like watching one of his players achieve this iconic moment.

‘It was quite funny because it was my sisters first time at the darts and she was shouting MISS when Van der Voort was playing. I said (to her) you can’t do that, think it, swear under your breath but you can’t say it. And then when you won a leg she’d be up on the table, I said ‘look you’ve got to calm down’ – and then when you hit the nine-darter, I was straight up on the table going like this (pumps arms in the air)...''

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