Luke Humphries and Shaun Murphy were involved in a heated exchange after the ‘nine-darter vs 147 break vs hole-in-one’ debate was brought up during the Paddy Power Perfect Challenge event.
On Wednesday afternoon, Paddy Power tried to settle the debate once and for all during a two-hour live show streamed on their social channels.
Darts professionals Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries attempted to hit a nine-darter, while the experienced duo of Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams tried to achieve snooker‘s ultimate challenge; the 147-break.
Meanwhile at the Hertsmere Golf Club in London, top pros Ross Fisher and Matt Wallace attempted to get a hole-in-one.
So how did they get on? Well, it didn’t take long for Humphries, the current world number one and reigning world champion, to have his say on the matter.
As he stood on the oche, Humphries claimed that an average person would find completing a 147 break more difficult than a nine-darter or hole-in-one. On the other hand, he believes a snooker maximum is much more achievable for a professional.
“I think if you’re an amateur person who hasn’t played snooker, hasn’t played golf, hasn’t played darts, you give them a set of darts, a snooker cue and a golf club, I think they would do a hole-in-one first, the nine-darter second and 147 last,” Humphries explained.
“I think that would be harder. But to a professional, I think a nine-darter is harder than a 147. You have seen them (Murphy and Williams), they know all the angles…”
Moments later, Murphy responded to Humphries’ claim by letting out a loud laugh. “I didn’t know you were a comedian,” added the snooker player.
As you can see from the footage above, Humphries was far from amused by his reaction. “What’s funny about that?” he asked. “Did you hear what I said though?”
Michael van Gerwen jokingly backed away and said “Woah, woah” as Humphries tried to make his point.
“When you know all the angles, in my opinion and you have your own one, when you know all the angles (a 147 is easier),” Humphries continued. “You can see, Mark has come close already twice.
“That’s what I mean. I think when you are a professional and you are really good at the game of snooker, you make it look easy a 147.”
Humphries went on to claim that statistically more 147s are made than nine-darters at a professional level. Murphy, however, wasn’t having any of it. “That doesn’t make it easier,” he replied.
Van Gerwen then brought up Murphy’s claim that he once threw a nine-darter. “Hey Murph, to you everything is easy, isn’t it?” the Dutchman joked. “Hitting nine-darters everywhere.”
Image credit: Paddy Power
After almost two hours of play, Murphy managed to hit a 147 break, while the others failed to complete a nine-darter and hole-in-one respectively.
What’s the hardest to hit? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.