02/03/2023

These players managed to hit a nine-dart finish at the UK Open in the last 20 years

In the 20-year history of the UK Open, it has happened 15 times that a nine-dart finish has been thrown. The first was in 2004, while no fewer than three perfect legs were recorded during the 2022 edition.

Phil Taylor was responsible for the first nine-darter at the UK Open in 2004. 'The Power' also threw the next three nine darters at this tournament, in 2005, 2007 and 2008. Michael van Gerwen is the only other player with multiple nine-dart finishes at this tournament. He hit a perfect leg in 2016 and 2020.

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The other nine darters came from Mervyn King, Gary Anderson, Wes Newton, Jonny Clayton, Sebastian Bialecki, Jitse van der Wal, José Justicia, James Wade and Michael Smith.

However, the nine darters by Newton, Bialecki, Van der Wal and Justicia were not seen on camera. These perfect legs were thrown on the boards outside the main stage and no camera team was present at the time.

Wade and Smith provided a special moment during the 2022 edition. Wade was playing on the main stage at the time, while Smith was in action on court 2. Wade then threw a nine darter in his match against Boris Krcmar, while a moment later Smith hit one in his match against Mensur Suljovic.