logo
Darts fans hail ‘greatest thing I've ever seen' as star lands extremely rare triple-bullseye checkout

Darts fans hail ‘greatest thing I've ever seen' as star lands extremely rare triple-bullseye checkout

The Irish Sun18 hours ago
THE Modus Super Series has provided darts fans with the fix they needed over the last few days.
And it has certainly not disappointed after a
2
Thomas Banks hit an incredible treble bull checkout
2
The teen star raised his arms in celebration as a PDC ref heaped praise on the rarely-seen checkout
However, that may have now been topped by Thomas Banks after he landed a remarkable 150 checkout... with THREE bulls.
Banks was up against Steve Plumstead in a Group C clash with the score 1-1.
Plumstead, 30, had just hit 133 at the board to bring his score down from 273 to 140.
Banks had 150 to hit or risk his rival being able to checkout.
READ MORE IN DARTS
And the 18-year-old prodigy, tipped to follow
The cameraman had zoomed in on treble 19, expecting him to aim there.
However, Banks instead went straight for the bull.
That set him on a path to needing two more.
Most read in Darts
BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK
And he duly delivered to move 2-1 ahead in the match, turning to the camera with his arms raised out either side of him.
PDC stage official Owen Binks was stunned at the trip.
Darts star Conan Whitehead hits brilliant nine-darter in 'one of most insane legs ever seen'
Taking to social media, he said: "Refereed nearly 6000 matches for this
business
and that is arguably the greatest thing I've seen!!
"TAKE A BOW THOMAS BANKS!!!"
Other fans joined the chorus of applause for The Bulldog.
One fan said: "Top arrows. Don't think I've ever seen that before."
A second said: "Beautiful that."
Another said: "There you go, this lad has it. Brilliant darts, just take a bow right now Thomas."
A fourth added: "Brilliant checkout 150."
Banks used the momentum of the 150 to win the match 4-1, which had followed a run of four defeats on the spin at the Super Series.
He won the series last year, in similar fashion to Littler who had won it on his route to the PDC before eventually winning the World
Championship
.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year.
The list does
not
include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included.
1994 - Dennis Priestley
1995 - Phil Taylor
1996 - Phil Taylor (2)
1997 - Phil Taylor (3)
1998 - Phil Taylor (4)
1999 - Phil Taylor (5)
2000 - Phil Taylor (6)
2001 - Phil Taylor (7)
2002 - Phil Taylor (8)
2003 - John Part
2004 - Phil Taylor (9)
2005 - Phil Taylor (10)
2006 - Phil Taylor (11)
2007 - Raymond van Barneveld
2008 - John Part (2)
2009 - Phil Taylor (12)
2010 - Phil Taylor (13)
2011 - Adrian Lewis
2012 - Adrian Lewis (2)
2013 - Phil Taylor (14)
2014 - Michael van Gerwen
2015 - Gary Anderson
2016 - Gary Anderson (2)
2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2)
2018 - Rob Cross
2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3)
2020 - Peter Wright
2021 - Gerwyn Price
2022 - Peter Wright (2)
2023 - Michael Smith
2024 - Luke Humphries
2025 - Luke Littler
Most World Titles
14 - Phil Taylor
3 - Michael van Gerwen
2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

‘He's not a good player… he's a pub player' – Michael van Gerwen rips into darts rival then says ‘I'm not harsh'
‘He's not a good player… he's a pub player' – Michael van Gerwen rips into darts rival then says ‘I'm not harsh'

The Irish Sun

time2 hours ago

  • The Irish Sun

‘He's not a good player… he's a pub player' – Michael van Gerwen rips into darts rival then says ‘I'm not harsh'

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN has brutally labelled a darts rival as a "pub player"... but insists he is not being harsh. The savage dig came after the three-time darts world champion defeated Pero Ljubic at the Poland Darts Masters on Friday. Advertisement 2 Michael van Gerwen gave a savage assessment of darts rival Pero Ljubic Credit: Getty 2 Van Gerwen said the Polish star was a 'pub player' Credit: Instagram / @peroljubic78 Van Gerwen faced his opponent in the first round, winning 6-4. However, the 36-year-old - by his own admission - did not have a great game as he averaged 84.71 and landed six out of 19 checkout attempts at 31.6 per cent. Fortunately for the world No3, his rival did not fare any better at the oche. Ljubic, 47, put up an average of 82.69 but had an even worse checkout rate with just four of 13 attempts at 30.8 per cent. Advertisement READ MORE IN DARTS And Mighty Mike - blunt as ever - did not sugarcoat his opinions of the game, including giving Ljubic both barrels. As per Oche, he said: "It wasn't a good game at all. Pero needs to be happy that he won one leg. "Pero is not a good player. Pero is a pub player — we all know that. "I'm not harsh — he is a lovely man but when you throw treble 12 for treble 20 then you need to go back to the dartboard. Advertisement Most read in Darts Breaking BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK "Did you ever see me do that? I can only blame myself, I didn't play well. "I'm the one to blame. But I made Pero look good today. Pero won a few legs and it feels like his birthday! Players Championship clash descends into 'pub darts' with even winner looking embarrassed after 'stinking' leg "I was going to win anyway. You want honest answers — I give you honest answers. Tomorrow is a different story — then I am up against the big boys." Advertisement His victory set up a quarter-final against The first matches of the quarter-finals will take place from 6.10pm on Saturday. You can keep up with all the action by following SunSport's live blog of the event HERE . Advertisement List of all-time Darts World Champions BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included. 1994 - Dennis Priestley 1995 - Phil Taylor 1996 - Phil Taylor (2) 1997 - Phil Taylor (3) 1998 - Phil Taylor (4) 1999 - Phil Taylor (5) 2000 - Phil Taylor (6) 2001 - Phil Taylor (7) 2002 - Phil Taylor (8) 2003 - John Part 2004 - Phil Taylor (9) 2005 - Phil Taylor (10) 2006 - Phil Taylor (11) 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 2008 - John Part (2) 2009 - Phil Taylor (12) 2010 - Phil Taylor (13) 2011 - Adrian Lewis 2012 - Adrian Lewis (2) 2013 - Phil Taylor (14) 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 2015 - Gary Anderson 2016 - Gary Anderson (2) 2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2) 2018 - Rob Cross 2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3) 2020 - Peter Wright 2021 - Gerwyn Price 2022 - Peter Wright (2) 2023 - Michael Smith 2024 - Luke Humphries 2025 - Luke Littler Most World Titles 14 - Phil Taylor 3 - Michael van Gerwen 2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright 1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler

Luke Littler appears to try new tactic with World Darts champion, 18, ‘hating' former favourite double
Luke Littler appears to try new tactic with World Darts champion, 18, ‘hating' former favourite double

The Irish Sun

time9 hours ago

  • The Irish Sun

Luke Littler appears to try new tactic with World Darts champion, 18, ‘hating' former favourite double

DARTS fans reckon Luke Littler has seemingly abandoned his trademark shot selection. The 18-year-old became famed for routinely nailing Double 10 with ease during his miraculous rise to world title contention. 2 Luke Littler became famed for nonchalantly hitting Double 10 during his rise to fame Credit: GETTY 2 But the 18-year-old has seemingly ditched what used to be his bread and butter Credit: SHUTTERSTOCK But judging from his most recent outings, including at the Poland Open, the 18-year-old has seemingly changed tact and opted not to go for Double 10 as much. The change hasn't gone unnoticed by fans, one of whom wrote on X: " "Going for 6-D8 on 22 is strange of him, but going for the 25 on 57 to leave D16 (On 82, first dart already in the 25) instead of just playing 17 Tops is incredible. "Btw, on the 57 he's hit the BULL to leave 7." READ MORE DARTS NEWS Another said: "Littler playing class as always, acted a bit wierd today tho, can only assume he was having a bad day on tops and d10. And another said: "He might try to switch the doubles because tops didn't go so well the last few months." One darts fan theorised: "I wonder if he's trying to get better at D16 ready for the Grand Prix. "Last year he kept going for tops and didn't do great, whereas many others get in on D16." Most read in Sport JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS Luke Littler prize money breakdown Here is all the prize money Luke Littler has won so far after being crowned 2025 PDC World Darts Championship winner: World Championship 2025 - £500,000 World Championship 2024 - £200,000 Grand Slam of Darts 2024 - £150,000 European Tour - £91,000 Player Championships events - £71,500 Players Championship final runner-up - £60,000 UK Open 2023 + 2024 - £17,500 World Matchplay - £10,000 World Grand Prix - £7,500 European Championship - £7,500 (Unranked) Premier League Darts - £315,000 TOTAL: £1.43 million Littler began his defence of the Poland Darts Masters title on Friday with a 6-4 win over the Czech Republic 's Karel Sedlack. He'll be back in action this evening in an all-English clash against Nathan Aspinall. Luke Littler launches new McDonald's burger as darts sensation, 18, adds fast food giants to lucrative brand deals Littler recently revealed he's still tormented by the pain of letting the Darts Premier League title slip through his grasp. He said: "I'll probably say the Premier League final against Luke [Humphries]. 'Yeah, because I was 5-2 up and I knew we would go off for a break after 10 legs, so we've still got 3 legs to play. 'So, I said to myself, if you go 7-3 up or 6-4 up, then I'm happy, but I went into the break at 5-5. 'I was fuming and then he just went on and won it. 'He definitely did up his game, because I'm pretty sure after the break, I think he went 7-5 up. 'So he came on stage, won the next two legs. I was just thinking what was going on.'

Gavin Coombes: ‘I've been waiting four years for this'
Gavin Coombes: ‘I've been waiting four years for this'

Irish Times

time11 hours ago

  • Irish Times

Gavin Coombes: ‘I've been waiting four years for this'

Gavin Coombes knows what it's like to win in Georgia. Eight years ago in Kutaisi, he was part of an Ireland Under-20 group that finished ninth in the World Championship, a squad that included Caelan Doris, Rónan Kelleher, Fineen Wycherley and Calvin Nash, a team-mate at the Mikheil Meskhi stadium in Tbilisi for Saturday night's match. The previous year Nigel Carolan's 20s had reached the World Cup final, but it was to be an altogether tougher experience 12 months on. Coombes and his cohorts lost all three pool matches, going down to Italy and Scotland before taking a shellacking from New Zealand. Victories over Samoa and Georgia rescued a ninth-place finish. He has mixed memories of the experience on the pitch. Off it, they're more pleasant. 'We had some not great results, and we won a few games. I think when you're playing 20s rugby it's very enjoyable. You're playing with a lot of people you grew up with. I have fond memories.' Coombes was in the vanguard of a glut of young players that established west Cork as a rich source of rugby talent, alongside Darren Sweetnam, his cousin Liam Coombes, Jack Crowley, John Hodnett, Jack Crowley and the Wycherleys, Fineen and Josh. READ MORE Coombes is a cousin of Irish rowing royalty, the O'Donovan brothers, Paul and Gary , and he grew up on a dairy farm in Betsboro, about 3km outside Skibbereen. He played all sports, but a significant part of his childhood was spent on the sidelines at Skibbereen RFC, watching his father Eric and uncle John. His aunt Mags was the first woman to be elected club president. Liam is her son. There was no bushel that could hide Gavin Coombes, who was always tall for his age and now stands at 6ft 6in. His power game was evident from a young age, and so too his athleticism. But there were gaps in his game, which were not evident as much when playing with Munster but became more apparent as he progressed from age-grade internationals to playing in the senior national side. When he won a brace of caps in the summer of 2021, against Japan off the bench and a try-scoring start against the USA, the expectation was that he would become a feature. Ireland's Gavin Coombes scores a try during the game against the USA. Photograph: Donall Farmer/PA Wire It didn't materialise despite a stellar try-scoring rate for Munster and his largely consistent excellence. There were also a couple of blokes called Jack Conan and Caelan Doris who were reluctant to accommodate his international ambitions. Sitting in a hotel in Tbilisi he's guarded rather than evasive. In four years since those caps he's had to listen to a list of his playing shortcomings. Some of it could be considered fair appraisal, some of it a little picky and ignoring the substance of his performances. The Georgia match has been inked on his calendar as a chance to regain a foothold once again in Test rugby. He explained: 'It's huge. It's probably been my target for the season, to get here. So now I've got to take that opportunity with both hands. 'It's been a while since I've played, so I want to put my best foot forward and hopefully, farther down the line, it gives me more opportunities.' He has scars from the knock-backs, but he's used them as fuel. 'I guess after I played four years ago, I had put a lot of pressure on myself to try to get in and play regularly, but when you get disappointed a few times, I think you have to step back from the situation and look at the players that you're competing with. 'I'm competing with two of the best 'eights' in the world, so, just looking at myself and focusing on myself and then all I can do is improve what I'm doing. I can't control what they're doing. I'd say I'm a good bit different. I made a lot of mistakes in those four years. It is experience gained. 'I feel like four years ago I might have taken it for granted and thought that was the normal thing to do; when you're 23, you're picked for Ireland and then your career goes in that trajectory. I'm definitely going to be a lot more grateful for the opportunity this time and hopefully I can grab it.' Gavin Coombes in action for Munster. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho When asked about the mistakes or missteps, he listened to the feedback from people whom he respected. 'There were a lot of mistakes on the pitch, mistakes off the pitch maybe with regards to preparation, planning and different things like that. 'I would be in conversation with Paulie [ Paul O'Connell ] a good bit and the coaches in Munster would be constantly chatting with the coaches up here [with Ireland], so I'm well aware of the areas of my game that I need to work on. 'I've definitely gone after a few of those areas, but I think for any player that sits up here they can never say they're a complete player. It's just about planning those little one-percenters wherever you can.' He acknowledges that his point of difference in his ball carrying, which is something his team-mates in Tbilisi will rely on when it comes to the gainline. He'll relish the physical confrontation and collisions. 'I guess that's something I pride myself on week-in, week-out with Munster, so if I want to go where I want to go, I have to bring it to this stage.' The veil descends a little as if he catches himself saying too much. He knows the pitch is the proving ground. He needs to make it his time. 'I've been waiting for four years.' That's it in a nutshell. It's about actions now.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store