Even when it’s bad, it’s brilliant – take a bow Kevin Doets and Noa-Lynn van Leuven.
The Dutch stars faced each other in the first round of the PDC World Darts Championship which saw Doets emerge victorious after winning 3-1.
Van Leuven created history by becoming the first transgender darts player to compete in the iconic tournament at Alexandra Palace.
And she could have secured a second round meeting with 2023 champion Michael Smith on Thursday had it not been for a horror third leg in the second set.
The 28-year-old was leading by a set and could have led 2-1 in the second had it not been for one of the most remarkable legs in Ally Pally history.
Neither Doets or Van Leuven could close out the game, with the pair both missing an abundance of opportunities to win the leg.
Van Leuven hit a 180 and quickly secured a checkout of 68 as Doets waited on 170.
However she missed her D20 chance, and then D16 and D8, while Doets missed tops, D10 and D5.
Over to Van Leuven, and she then went bust in her D8 attempt as she and Doets took it in turns to stun the shocked onlookers.
After a whopping 33 darts, Doets finally hit D1, before jokingly bowing to the crowd to apologise.
Mark Wilson and Chris Mason were watching the clash on talkSPORT’s live watchalong on YouTube, with the former literally left with his head in his hands as the misses kept coming.
He said of the game: “Wow, pressure coming to the fore here at the Alexandra Palace.”
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Mason quipped it was like something you’d see in your local pub, as he stated: “It’s like a game down The Dog and Duck on a Monday night.”
Wilson then concluded by saying: “That was a 33-dart leg. I don’t think we will see a longer one at this World Championship… I certainly hope we don’t.”
Social media was also sent into a meltdown over the incident, as one X user said: “That might be the worst leg of darts in history.”
Another messaged: “Worst leg of darts I’ve ever seen.”
A third added: “That leg made my day already.”
This viewer then simply stated: “That was the funniest leg of darts of all time.”
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Doets would eventually take the second set to level up the match after the mammoth leg.
He would then win the third and the fourth legs to seal his place in the second round where he is seeking revenge against Smith.
The pair met in the second round of the World Championship last year, which saw Smith win 3-2.
And Doets knows he cannot afford another 33-darter if he wishes to reach the third round for the first time in his career.
Speaking to Sky Sport about the leg, he said: “Every World Championships there is a leg like that, I was unfortunate to have it today.
“I was just fighting, fighting, fighting. The crowd were amazing though. They didn’t boo anyone. they didn’t boo me, they were great.”
Darts player forced to walk off stage during middle of match in bizarre PDC World Championship incident
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