There has been a great debate for years between darts enthusiasts and those who consider themselves snooker geeks as to which is more difficult, i.e. nine for oche or 147 for dresses? This question will never be fully answered, but they seem to be unanimous on the biggest names in each sport.
“I think the 147 has to be more difficult,” said snooker legend and seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan earlier in the debate, remaining true to his sport. “I think what you’re doing with the dartboard and the way you’re doing it looks so easy it’s just unbelievable, so all respect to you. Just being able to do a 147 or a 9-darter is a great achievement, but I tend to agree with that. Maybe 147 will be a little more difficult just because it has 36 shots and you only have nine to do.”
The man who has been threatening to make nine darts look incredibly easy over the last 12 months is the newly crowned winner of the PDC World Darts Championship, Łukasz Małyr. ‘The Nuke’ equaled Gerwyn Price’s record of four nine darters in a calendar year in 2024, but in truth it could have been a dozen more if the last double 12 had not continually gone wrong. However, according to Littler, despite his problems with completing a perfect stage, the 147 in snooker remains the more difficult feat of the two.
“I think it has to be 147,” he begins his recent assessment of the age-old debate. “I don’t know the rules of snooker, what are they? You pocket the red ball, pocket the colored ball, and so on. It’s really difficult. I would say 147 is a lot harder.”
Recently, sponsors of the PDC World Darts Championship put this question to the test because Luke Humphries AND Michael van Gerwen he attempted to hit a nine, while just nearby, World Snooker Champions Shaun Murphy and Mark Williams attempted to hit 147. Ultimately, it was Murphy (who claims he also hit a nine-darter ed.) who struck gold first, earning a break of 147.
