Sport
Nathan Aspinall reached the final in Cardiff with an impressive 136-checkout and a ‘phantom nine-darter’
Can he go one better in Glasgow?
Danny Jones -
10th February 2023 
Nathan Aspinall made it all the way to the final in Cardiff during the second round of Premier League Darts on Thursday night, pulling off a number of notable finishes in the process.
Although he was ultimately knocked out by former world number one Gerwyn Price, albeit not on his best form on the night, ‘The Asp’ looked like the man to beat as he managed to brush past two-time WPDC winner Peter Wright and reigning world champion Michael Smith on his way to the final.
If ‘The Iceman’ didn’t have the home crowd on his side — admitting that they got him over the line and now has “14 weeks of hell ahead of him” — Aspinall may very well have taken the win, having beat Price on his way to the semis on the opening night in Belfast on February 2.
However, despite going one further, the Stockport lad fell at the final hurdle, but not before hitting a remarkable 136-checkout to knock out world number one Smith by 6-4.
His overall performance on the night was lauded by fans as not just “impressive” but “outrageous” at times, averaging 105 every three darts.
The 31-year-old has just one major to his name so far which came in the 2019 UK Open but has continued to develop his game, having reached the semis in the worlds in 2019 and 2020, as well as coming runner-up in the Premier League, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam all in the last three years.
With that in mind, not to mention going one better than last week and following show-stoppers like his 136-finish, it’s looking like The Asp is starting the year off right.
That wasn’t the only shot that got the crowd on their feet either, as he also pulled off a rare ‘phantom nine-darter’ (also known as a ghost nine-darter) after a bounce-out denied him a perfect leg against Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright. Still, 10 darts isn’t bad either.
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Once again, his performance on the night was so good that many fans remarked that it deserved to be a true nine-darter but at least it added to the theatrics.
Nathan Aspinall currently sits fourth in the table, level on points with Chris Dobey, Gerywn Price and Michael van Gerwen, though the top three do boost a higher leg difference.
Here’s hoping he puts in another strong showing in Glasgow on Thursday, 16 February.
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Featured Image — PDC Darts/Sky Sports (via Twitter)
