MUST WATCH: Professional Darts Thrower Christian Kist Hits The First "Nine-Darter" Of The World Darts Championships And The Crowd Lost Their Minds
Express UK - Christian Kist earned one of his biggest-ever paydays by hitting a nine-darter at the World Darts Championship.
The Dutchman put together a perfect leg to clinch the first set against Madars Razma, sending the Alexandra Palace into raptures. He punched the air in delight after pinning double-12 to seal the first nine at the worlds since the 2023 final.
The tide then turned against Kist, who ended up losing his first-round match 3-1. But he was totally unaware of the £60,000 bonus prize which came with his accomplishment and undoubtedly lifted his spirits after being dumped out of the tournament.
I don't know shit about darts, so I will keep this one short and sweet.
1- Sticking 3 darts this close to each other is so cocky my brain can't comprehend it.
The first thing my mind went to seeing this, was the scene in Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, where he splits the arrow.
(Sidebar - what a great fucking movie as a kid.)
2- speaking of Robin Hood, look at all the maniacs in the audience dressed up.
These guys as Masters caddies.
And this guy as Snow White I think?
3- By all accounts, this Christian Kist guy is a good dude who's been riding out the Pro Darts Tour 'til the wheels fall off.
"I didn't know that at all, I hadn't been told that," he said. "That is an absolute windfall. Hitting the double-12 felt amazing. It was a lovely moment for everyone. Maybe I will go on vacation next month."
Leading up to the tournament, PaddyPower pledged to split £180k three ways between the player, a randomly-selected fan and Prostate Cancer UK if a nine-darter was hit. A lucky supporter called Kris was picked out of the audience to join Kist in receiving £60k on Wednesday night.
The scale of Kist's eye-watering bonus payment is put into perspective by his modest darts earnings over the past two years.
Prior to rocking up at the Ally Pally this month, he had banked just £19,750 in PDC ranking tournament prize money over the past two years, leaving him 102nd in the Order of Merit. £5k of that came from his run to the semi-finals of Players Championship 22 in September.
He only had one other payday of over £3k in 2024, and aside from racking up £18,500 worth of earnings at various Players Championship events, his only other cash win was a measly £1,250 at the Dutch Darts Championship in May
Probably works a full-time job and picks up bartending shifts at his local pub if I had to guess. He probably throws thousands of darts a night at the place when its slow or when the regulars want to play for money or beers.
3- A 9-Darter is preposterous. I was trying to think of other sports analogies and thought it's like throwing a perfect game in baseball, but nope. It would be like throwing a 27-pitch perfect game in baseball. Or would it be a 9-pitch perfect game? It's basically equivalent of bowling 300 right? It would be like shooting 18 in golf, (something only Kim Jong Un has ever come close to doing, when he famously shot 11 holes in one in his first and ever time playing.)
4- I know darts videos get posted a couple times a year around here so this scene isn't anything new, but goddamn does this look like the best time ever.
Just people getting plastered, dressing up like goofballs, and losing their shit every time somebody wins. Sounds like T-Box but without all the drunk girls crying on sidewalks, and a million times better. (If you're from Chicago you know).
Plus, the crowds police themselves.
Plus, name me another sport where you can win $60k just for showing up?
And these people can freaking drink.
Daily Star - We expect thousands of pints to be sunk by fans letting their hair down over the Championships. In 2023, it was reported that over 500,000 pints were consumed. Alexandra Palace confirmed with us that for this year, they expect a circa 250,000 pints to be consumed over the events – with fans spending millions on their favourite beverages.
I've been to some pretty good parties in my life, but this is officially on my bucket list and needs to be checked off in 2025. Pro darts in England is wild.
I looked into going and tickets are not easy to come by.
DartsCorner- Tickets for the upcoming PDC World Darts Championship sold out in record time, with 40,000 sold in the first half an hour of the tickets going on sale. This led to widespread anger on social media, as some fans struggled to obtain tickets, blaming bots and touts who had acquired them and reselling them at a much-inflated price, with some tickets going for £800.
p.s. - this is hilarious -
p.p.s. - I cannot fucking wait for July 4th in Manchster