Nathan Aspinall threw two perfect legs in Tuesday’s Players Championship 31 in a remarkable display of darts just hours after announcing his shock split from ZXF sports management.
The Asp’s first nine-darter came against Steve Lennon earlier in the day in the second round, a match the 34-year-old won 6-4.
The former UK Open and World Matchplay champion then repeated the astonishing feat against German Lukas Wenig, with the Englishman winning 6-5.
On both occasions, the former world No4 took the usual route of treble-19 and double-12.
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The achievement now means Aspinall joins just Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor and Ross Smith to land multiple nine-darters in the same ProTour event.
The world No23 then followed up his victory against Wenig with a narrow 6-5 victory against James Wade and a 7-3 win over Stephen Bunting, who has won two Players Championships this year, to reach the final.
Nathan Aspinall threw two nine-darters in Tuesday’s Players Championship 31 in a remarkable display of darts just hours after announcing his shock split from ZXF sports management
|SKY SPORTS
At the time of writing, this leaves Aspinall 43rd in the Players Championship Order of Merit, sitting well within the 64-man shortlist that qualifies for the Players Championship Final at the end of November.
The tournament sees a series of 34 non-televised tournaments, usually mid-week, throughout the calendar year. The finals, held between November 21 and 23, are televised.
On each individual tournament, the winner will receive £15,000, with the runner-up securing a cool £10,000.
Lukas Wenig, held his arms aloft as he watched Nathan Aspinall hit his second nine-darter of the day
|SKY SPORTS
Earlier in the day, off the back of his World Grand Prix victory, Luke Littler suffered a crushing defeat against Ritchie Edhouse in the first round.
The stunning performance from Aspinall comes just hours after he announced his shock split from ZXF sports management.
The two-time major champion had been partnered with the management company for “eight incredible years”.
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The company, run by chief Martin Foulds, guided Aspinall through his triumphs in the UK Open in 2019 and the World Matchplay in 2023.
He also reached a high of No4 in the PDC Order of Merit.
The darts star announced the decision in an emotional Instagram post.
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"After 8 incredible years with ZXF sports management, I’ll be parting ways with them after the conclusion of this year’s world championships,” he wrote.
"I signed with Martin in 2017 as an unknown and with his amazing generosity, commitment, friendship and management skills he helped transform me into a 2 x Major winner, multiple major finals, as well as reaching the Top 4 in the world rankings.
"We have had many laughs along this amazing journey, travelled the world together, seen some amazing places and of course lots of successes and you have not only been my manager but one of my closest friends.
"What you have done for me and my family I will be forever grateful and from the bottom of my heart thank you for all you have done for me.
"I’m looking forward to signing this 8 year relationship off with a bang over the last few months of the season, aswell as excited about what the future has in store for The Asp."