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Damon Heta kicked off the resumption of the World Championship in style by throwing a nine-darter, only to suffer a shock defeat against Luke Woodhouse as the seeds continue to exit at Ally Pally.
The Australian achieved darting perfection in the second set of his third round match with Luke Woodhouse to earn a cool £60,000 payday.
Heta was millimetres away from throwing a nine-darter in the previous round when he missed the double 12, but he made no mistake this time in the first match after the Christmas break.
He followed up successive 180s with a treble 20 and treble 19 before sending his ninth dart the right side of the wire.
Woodhouse took his opponent’s achievement in good spirits, hugging the Australian and raising his arm in the air.
Woodhouse would rally though, rattling off nine consecutive legs to stun the No. 9 seed and triumph 4-3, setting up a last 16 clash with Madars Razma or Stephen Bunting.
Heta’s feat was the second time a nine-darter has been thrown in the 2025 tournament and the 16th of all time at the World Championship, following Christian Kist’s effort before Christmas.
