Super-Rare Darts Shot Harder Than Nine-Darter Has Only Been Managed Four Times

There is a shot in darts that is actually harder than hitting the famous nine-darter, and it's only been managed four times in history.

Darts world number one Humphries produced an impressive comeback win over Michael Smith during the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton on Sunday night.

The 30-year-old struggled on the doubles in the first few legs of the match but eventually found his form before ending the match with a nine-dart finish to beat Smith 5-3.

"It's the weirdest game of darts I've been involved in. To then go on and hit a nine-darter, that's why darts is one of the best sports in the world." Humphries admitted after the win.

But, while the finish was massively impressive, there is actually one shot that is even harder to hit than a nine-darter, and it's only been achieved four times in the history of the sport.

Humphries hit an impressive nine dart finish during the match against Smith. (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

During the 2011 Darts World Grand Prix, one player made history by becoming the first person to hit a never-before-done finish

While competing at the event, Brendan Dolan became the first player to hit a televised nine-darter under double-in double-out rules.

These particular variation of darts rules is used in some tournaments, namely the World Grand Prix, and forces players to begin and end each leg by hitting a double.

If a player misses a double, they don’t receive a score, and their opponent gets to throw.

Of course, this makes the already difficult task of a flawless nine-darter even harder by limiting a player's options.

But for Dolan, this was no issue as he amazingly hit the finisgh during his 2011 match against James Wade before reaching the final of the tournament, where he lost to darts legend Phil Taylor.

The Northern Irishman started with 160 before hitting a 180 maximum score and a 161 finish to complete the perfect leg.

Potentially inspired by the impressive feat, Wade himself hit a double-in double-out nine darter in the 2014 edition of the World Grand Prix.

Amazingly, just moments later his opponent, Robert Thornton matches this feat with a nine dart finish of his own, although it wasn't enough to win the match as Wade took home a 3-2 victory.

The final and most recent player to hit the elusive double-in double-out nine darter was Niko Springer during the PDC Europe Next Gen Event 4 in March 2024.

Springer was leading Sascha Stuhlemmer 4–3 in the quarter-final match before opening the eighth leg with a 160, followed by a 180, and then checked out 161 to complete the nine-darter and win the match 5–3.

Unfortunately for the German player, the match was not r televised like the three achieved in the World Grand Prix and therefore, his PDC profile shows 0 “Televised Nine-Dart Finishes”.