World Darts : Nine Dart Finish , The Holy Grail .

The 9 Dart Finish.

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Ok , so , the holy grail for any dart player in a single leg is the nine dart finish , to achieve this you must hit T20 seven times in a row , T19 and Double 12 , it is an achievement in itself to just hit three T20's for a 180 , let alone seven T20's a T19 and double 12 .

There are other ways of achieving a nine darter , but the one I mention is the most common and the easiest to remember .

The first ever televised nine dart finish was achieved by John Lowe at the world match play championships in 1984 , it was'nt shown live on tv , but he still received a bumper £102,000 for his effort, and went on to win the tournament .

There has only ever been one World Championship ( WDC ) nine darter in history, that feat was completed by Paul Lim in 1990 , he won £52,000 for his place in history, which was more money than the tournament winner won , which was £24,000 .

Only a handful of men have come close in the WDC to equalling Lim's feat , Mervyn King and Denis Ovens , both missed their final checkout darts on double 12 .

The first Live televised nine darter was completed by Shaun Greatbatch live on Dutch tv in 2002 in the Dutch open final , a few months later the UK saw its first Live televised nine dart finish when Phil " The Power " Taylor checked out in minimum darts at the 2002 World matchplay tournament .

Phil Taylor has since gone on to be the most prolific darts player in the world with only Dutch man Raymond Van Barneveld seeming able to decrease " The Power " so to speak .

Taylor is the only man in history to achieve more than one nine dart finish live on TV , he has hit an incredible six live nine darters , in 2002 at the PDC matchplay, two years in a row at the Bolton UK open in 2004 and 2005 , International darts league in Holland in 2007 , the UK open in 2007 and his most recent this year 2008 again in the UK open at Bolton.

It would of been seven because during his practise before his match with James Wade in the 2008 PDC premier league , the cameras caught him hitting a nine darter , but it was only shown on replay later on and was not deemed a televised nine darter , he went on to win 8-4 .

Other people to achieve televised nine dart finishes were Raymond Van Barneveld at the 2006 PDC premier league and Jason Clark on German tv at the PartyPoker.net German Darts championship in 2007 .

The youngest man to ever score a live nine dart finish was 17 year old German Michael Van Gerwen at the Semi final of the Masters of Darts tournament in Holland , and it was the first live nine darter that did not start with two 180's .

As a person who owns a dart board myself and who has hit a few 180's and some other great scores , I can truly appreciate what it takes for these men to hit a nine dart finish , live on television as well . My palms get all sweaty when I've hit the first two T20's of a 180, and thats without any audience .

It takes patience , Skill , Focus and some very steady nerves to complete such a task in a hot , sweaty darts hall , with hundreds of fans behind you waving their cards with 180 on , Also if your not too clever at maths you have to work out your remaining score without losing focus .

So Phil Taylor is obviously the Main man of the Holy Grail of nine dart finishes , but it doesnt automaticaly guarantee you a win , thats whats so exciting about darts , you can have a poor leg or set and still be at the races .

To check how good this feat is and how good Phil Taylor is at it , copy and past the link at the bottom of this page , its his latest nine darter in 2008.

Check back next time as I'll be doing an article on current WDC champion and Welshman Mark " Webby " Webster , to take a look at his prospects for retaining his crown and about how he became a dart player , you will be amazed .

I want to say well done to Michael Griffin for getting us a darts section here on Blecher Report with the help of Z . I realised my passion for darts is bigger than I let on .

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WolwkUmjWho

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