Luke Littler is into the third round of the World Darts Championship (Image: Getty)
There are plenty of reasons for to pursue his fifth perfect leg of the year at the .
Previous nine-darters at the Bahrain Darts Masters, the Players Championship, the Belgian Darts Open and the final made it four for the year – a joint-record in the PDC with and .
Another would take Littler clear of that heavyweight duo, as well as banking himself, one lucky punter and Prostate Cancer UK £60,000 each courtesy of PaddyPower. But if historic trends are followed, it could also lead to him crashing out of the tournament.
Earlier today (Friday), Damon Heta notched the 16th nine-darter in the history of the World Darts Championship. But the Aussie then capitulated, losing nine consecutive legs in a third-round defeat to Luke Woodhouse.
The only other player to have hit a perfect leg at the 2025 Championship is Christian Kist, who was also sent packing. Bizarrely, nine-darters at the worlds have been hit more often by players who lose the match than those who make it through to the next round.
Of the 16 hit in total, nine were hit by match losers and only seven by winners. Four of the last five nine-dart legs have been hit by players who go on to lose the contest – the one exception being Michael Smith in the 2023 final.
Damon Heta became the ninth player to hit a nine-darter and lose at the world champs (Image: Getty)
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Heta’s performance tailed off dramatically after he brought the house down against Woodhouse, perhaps with the adrenaline of winning £60k and accomplishing a rare feat knocking him out of rhythm.
Littler will hope, if he goes on to achieve perfection at the tournament, that he is able to keep his emotions in check. The 17-year-old has admitted he has his sights set on clearing Van Gerwen and Price, saying: “It’s definitely becoming a frustration in a good way. Obviously, as soon as you make the switch to the treble-19, your eyes light up.”
The first two World Darts Championship nine-darters were both hit by Raymond van Barneveld, in 2009 and 2010, before Adrian Lewis got in on the act in the 2011 final against Gary Anderson.
Lewis hit another in a 2015 defeat to Van Barneveld – becoming the only player other than ‘Barney’ to do it twice – while Van Gerwen, Price and James Wade have also etched their names into the tournament’s history books.