Up close and personal for Hospitality clients at historic darts meet in Dublin

DAIMANI’s official hospitality clients had the best seats in the house to watch a moment in darts’ history as England’s Michael Smith scored his first-ever televised, nine-dart check out at the Unibet Premier League in Dublin. Smith said:

‘It's a feeling you can't explain - it's amazing. I've never hit a nine-darter on TV before and this was special. I've never felt my heart beat so fast in my life!’.

A nine-dart finish is considered the highest single-game achievement in the sport, similar to a maximum 147 break in snooker or a 300-point game in bowling. Smith – who goes by the nickname Bully Boy- threw the following three final darts:

• treble 20 (60)
• treble 19 (57)  
• double 12 (24).

‘It's something on my list that I've ticked off now and I'm over the moon, but even more pleased to get the win too. I could have played better but I'm chuffed to get the win.’

When he was a teenager Smith fell off his bike on the way to school. The injury to his hip meant he needed to use crutches for 16 weeks and it was during that period Smith threw his first 180.

The first televised nine-darter was achieved by John Lowe in October 1984 but this was not broadcast live: nor was Singapore Paul Lim's nine-dart finish at the 1990 Embassy World Championship. The first ever live broadcast nine-dart finish was Shaun Greatbatch’s in the Dutch Open final on 3 February 2002, while Phil Taylor achieved the first live nine-darter broadcast on British television during the 2002 World Matchplay.

Our all-knowing friends at Wikipedia report that 55 televised nine-darters have been achieved by 26 different men, of which English players have achieved a total of 30 nine-darters [including Smith], 11 have been achieved by Dutch players, four by Scots, three by Australian players, two by Belgian players and one nine-darter has been achieved by players from Singapore, Canada, and Northern Ireland.

Browse and book from DAIMANI's darts events here.