Jamie Hughes' bizarre miscount stops him adding to the 12 nine-darters in 2022
Jamie Hughes came agonizingly close to becoming a member of the nine-dart club, but his bizarre miscount in the Players Championship denied him a spot.
Three were added to that list over the weekend as Josh Rock, Joe Cullen and Danny Noppert hit maximums during the weekend's Players Championship action.
The Tipton thrower was up against Alan Soutar in the first round of the competition, and after finding his rhythm early on, the 35-year-old went up another gear in the sixth leg.
He opened up with an impressive 180, before nailing a composed 177 to set up a breathtaking finish.
On his third visit to the board, however, Hughes managed something even more fascinating than actually landing the nine-darter - he miscounted.
𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗲 𝗛𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗲𝘀' 𝗡𝗶𝗻𝗲-𝗗𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁... 🤯
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 21, 2022
Surely you can't miscount when on a nine-darter...
But somehow Jamie Hughes forgot what he needed when going for 144 for a perfect leg on Saturday 🤯
Have you ever seen anything like this? 😂 pic.twitter.com/iKw5NSz3Th
The match commentator Paul Nicholson provided some brilliantly entertaining reaction during the match.
"I've never seen anything like it in my life," said Nicholson. "Even the referee is flummoxed. Alan Soutar is flummoxed thinking 'Jamie Hughes, bow your head in shame.' If only he had D12 left!"
Darts stars have some way to go if they are to equal last year's record of 42 nine-darters, and they'll all be hoping to see that unlucky number 13 ticked off sooner rather than later.