Darts star Damon Heta raises the Ally Pally roof with ‘virtually excellent’ nine-darter

Damon Heta has nailed a nine-dart finish at the Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship.

The Heat struck perfection in the first game back after the Christmas break as darts returned to the Alexandra Palace stage. Heta, who was a set down in his third round clash with Luke Woodhouse, opened up with a 180 from the oche.

He then hit his second 180, leaving 141, as he hit T20, T19 and then D20 – as fans at the Ally Pally jumped up and down in celebration. And fans on social media declared the moment as perfect, with Heta wheeling off with an extravagant celebration and Woody pumping the air too.

“Heta producing the heat and what a reaction from Woody,” one fan said on X, formerly known as Twitter. While a second shared: “Proper celebration. Be good if the opponent got say £10k as well as the £60k to the thrower!”

“Unreal! Love that from Woodhouse celebrating with him instead of being rotten like they usually are in a nine-dart situation,” a third said. And another added: “That was amazing from Heta, it was almost perfect!”

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Heta came close to hitting a nine in his opening clash with Connor Scutt on Saturday (December 12), the Aussie thrower had just missed the D12 on that occasion.

It’s the second nine-darter of the tournament, after Christian Kist hit one against Madars Razma in their first round clash. However, it wouldn’t be enough for Kist to book his spot in the second, with Razmatazz taking the clash.

Ahead of the tournament Paddy Power had pledged to donate £1,000 to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 hit as part of its BIGGER 180 campaign during the tournament as well as a £180,000 bonus for a perfect leg of darts.

That bonus is split into three: £60k to Prostate Cancer UK, £60k to the player hitting the nine, and £60k to one lucky fan in the audience.