Early Christmas present for Christian Kist after World Championship nine-darter

Christian Kist earned himself a bumper payday by firing a stunning nine-dart finish at the World Championship before bowing out to Madars Razma.

The Dutchman threw the perfect leg in the opening set of his first-round match to scoop £60,000 – more than he would have earned had he reached the quarter-final stage.

Kist achieved the feat by hitting back-to-back 180s and finished it off with a treble 20, treble 19 and a magical double 12 to send Ally Pally wild and claim the first set.

It was the 15th nine-dart finish in the history of the PDC World Championship and first since the greatest leg in the history of the sport when Michael Smith achieved the feat in the 2023 final, moments after Michael van Gerwen had missed his attempt.

As well as lining Kist’s pockets, title sponsor Paddy Power will also donate £60,000 to charity Prostate Cancer UK and £60,000 to a supporter inside Alexandra Palace.

“This perfect leg of darts means Christian has etched his name in the darting history books – but he’s also helped raise an incredible £60,000,” Prostate Cancer UK chief executive Laura Kerby said.

“This iconic tournament has seen us make a huge difference to men affected by prostate cancer, one maximum at a time.”

But Kist’s night ended in disappointment as he fell to a 3-1 loss to Razma.

Nathan Aspinall improved on last year’s performance with a 3-1 win over Leonard Gates.

The 12th seed crashed out before Christmas last year when losing to Ricky Evans and this was not pretty against the American, but he did enough to get over the line.

Evans was also in action as he beat Gordon Mathers 3-1 while Paolo Nebrida saw off Jim Williams in a last-leg decider.