Michael Smith has spoken of his joy at landing his maiden televised nine-dart finish in Thursday's Unibet Premier League night in Dublin.
Smith struck a perfect leg as he defeated Daryl Gurney 7-5 in front of a sell-out 9,000 crowd at the 3Arena, finally achieving the feat in a big-stage contest after a number of near-misses.
NINE-DARTER!!!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 27, 2020
MICHAEL SMITH STRIKES PERFECTION IN DUBLIN!
It's the first Premier League nine-darter since 2017!! pic.twitter.com/k2vebOPzYv
The St Helens ace receives a gold pin badge for the televised nine-darter, and is half-way towards achieving the £50,000 bonus offered by sponsors Unibet should a player land two perfect legs during the 2020 season.
However, it was the moment of magic against Gurney which Smith was left to savour, admitting: "It was an amazing feeling.
"That was special. I've never felt my heart beat so fast in my life. It's something on my list that I've ticked off now.
"I was speaking with my dad a couple of weeks ago - I've missed the double a few times on TV and I wanted the gold pin badge to go alongside my silver ones."
Smith later saw the joyous celebrations of his children, Michael Junior and Casper, which were shared by wife Dagmara on social media.
Absolutely amazing ???? well done @BullyBoy180 @OfficialPDC pic.twitter.com/OsVnq6MqK1
— Dagmara Smith (@DagaDarts) February 27, 2020
"It's emotional to see that," he added. "To see my kids enjoying it like that is special - it means a lot.
"They're everything to me, but Junior will probably still be critical of my game when I get home - that's what he's like!"