Sporting Life
William Borland hit the fastest nine-darter ever
William Borland hit the fastest nine-darter ever

The fastest nine-dart finish ever? Willie Borland's perfect leg is timed as the quickest ahead of Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen

By Chris Hammer
Darts
Wed December 22, 2021 · 3y ago

Willie Borland's stunning nine-dart finish against Bradley Brooks didn't just go into the history books for being the first to win a match in a televised event.

Having watched all perfect legs in TV tournaments, Sporting Life can unofficially confirm that the 25-year-old’s moment of magic – which came in the decider of a pulsating clash – was also the quickest ever thrown.

Timing each visit from when a player’s arm starts its throwing motion until the third dart lands in the board, Borland’s scores of 180, 177 and 144 took him just 11.25 seconds to compile.

The whole leg only lasted just 40.82 seconds and although there’s no data to confirm that’s the quickest televised leg ever – the fact that he was throwing first and Bradley Brooks is a very quick player too means it’s unlikely to have been matched. Quite impressive when you think how long he celebrated his opening 180!

While there's no official timing records, Michael Smith’s brilliance during his Premier League encounter with Daryl Gurney in Dublin just before the pandemic hit in 2020 was the previous record holder with 12.10 seconds and the leg took 48 seconds.

We timed Michael van Gerwen’s first ever nine-darter at the age of 17 against Raymond van Barneveld was timed at just 12.24 seconds in a leg that lasted just 41.96 seconds while the Dutchman’s other six perfect legs on TV have all been between the 12 and 14 second range.

Adrian Lewis also went close to 13 second with his nine-darter against Raymond van Barneveld in the 2011 European Championship and his other four weren’t too far behind, while for contest Phil Taylor’s record haul of 11 were around the 20-second mark.

The only nine-darter anywhere which may have been faster than Borland came away from the cameras in 2019 when the game’s fastest throwing player Ricky Evans hit a perfect leg against Justin Pipe in a Players Championship event – although considering his opponent’s polar opposite style of play, there’s no chance the whole leg would have been under a minute, let alone 40 seconds.

Borland: "I did see something on Twitter about the speed of it but to be honest all I’ve done is watched the nine-darter! I think Ricky Evans would definitely be able to beat the record, he’s rapid!"

RICKY EVANS | 9 DARTER IN 9 SECONDS!?

Unofficial fastest nine-darters ever

  • Each visit timed separately from the start of the throwing action until the third dart hits the board
  1. Willie Borland v Bradley Brooks - 11.25 seconds (leg time 40.82 seconds)
    World Championship 2022
  2. Michael Smith v Daryl Gurney - 12.10 (leg time 49 secs)
    Premier League 2020
  3. Michael van Gerwen v Raymond van Barneveld – 12.24 secs (leg time 41 secs)
    Masters of Darts 2007
  4. Michael van Gerwen v Raymond van Barneveld - 12.56 (leg time 47 secs)
    European Championship 2014
  5. Michael van Gerwen v Adrian Lewis - 13.20 (leg time 51 secs but Lewis threw first)
    Players Championship Finals 2019

CLICK HERE TO WATCH ALL THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP NINE DARTERS IN HISTORY

The Scotsman has also spoken about how he's coped with his Fallon Sherrock-style ascent to darting stardom over the past few days.

Borland joined Twitter just hours after hitting the tournament's 11th perfect leg in history and already has around 30,000 followers while the official video of his magic moment has been viewed over six million times on the social media platform alone.

He said: "It's incredible that a lot of famous people have tweeted about it and mention my name because I still think of myself as a nobody! It's unbelievable I was trending and my wife thinks its up there with one of the best wins ever! My manager sorted out my Twitter and can't believe how much it's grown so quickly - something like 15,000 in the space of half an hour.

"It's been the best weekend of my life so far, I'm speechless. I've got about 450 messages on Facebook so I put a message up on there thanking everyone because I don't think I'll be able to get round to replying to them all.

"I've viewed it about 400-500 times myself! I couldn't stop watching it all weekend as well as videos my friends sent me of them watching it in pubs. I couldn't believe that's me.

"I went to watch Spiderman at the cinema and then to the pub to watch the darts where a few people recognised me, but not too many yet."

Should Borland repeat that magic at some point in the tournament he would win a £50,000 bonus - courtesy of official PDC partner Selco Builders Warehouse - while a member of the public who enters a special prize draw and Selco's nominated charity Global's Make Some Noise would each receive £25,000.

"It would help me put a deposit down on a house and be life-changing for me, the charity and the fan who gets £25,000. Nine-darters are very hard to hit so I need to focus more on winning the game than think too much about it."

Borland is underdog against Ryan Searle on Wednesday lunchtime and is expecting a tough match, even if the crowd will now be warming to him more than they did against Brooks.

He said: "He's one of the most in form players on tour at the moment so I just need to put him under as much pressure as possible. I've played him twice before and we're 1-1 so I know I can beat him.

"I'll get more respect from the crowd. It didn't bother me when they booed - it just gives me more fuel to go on and do well. There will be more on my side knowing someone will get £25,000 if I hit a nine-darter.

"The massive thing for me is to keep learning, progress and improve my consistency levels. I believe that will come if I keep practicing and do what I'm doing."

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