Nathan Aspinall did not need a warm-up. On his official return after more than a month without a match, the Englishman opened Players Championship 27 with a 9-darter in the very first leg against Thibault Tricole on Tuesday in Leicester.
The detail gives the sequence extra weight: 180, 180, then 141 to complete the perfect leg. According to DartsNews, Aspinall then controlled the match and beat Tricole 6-1. The PDC's official page confirms the tournament context, with the ProTour back at the Mattioli Arena and a double-header that already matters in the race for end-of-season qualification.
A 9-darter in the very first leg against Tricole
The moment is rare enough to deserve more than a line in the scores. Aspinall began his match against Thibault Tricole with two straight 180s. That left 141. He did not hang around: three more darts, the finish was cleared, and the perfect leg was complete.
On a floor-event day, this kind of moment can quickly disappear in the stream of results. Here, it still says something. Aspinall was returning from a competitive break after his 21 July defeat against Luke Littler at the World Matchplay. Coming back with a perfect leg, from the first nine darts he threw in an official match, is more than a neat footnote.
Tricole was under pressure immediately. The Frenchman already had a difficult draw against a top-level player. Conceding a 9-darter at the start made the match even harder to manage. Aspinall used that momentum to move into a clear 6-1 win, without giving Tricole time to settle into a normal rhythm.
| Competition | Players Championship 27 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Mattioli Arena, Leicester |
| Match | Nathan Aspinall beat Thibault Tricole 6-1 |
| Key moment | 9-darter in the first leg |
| Route | 180, 180, 141 checkout |
Why this return matters for Aspinall
We should not overplay a first-round Players Championship match. But in Aspinall's case, the signal is clean. He had not played an official match for more than a month, and his last major appearance had ended in Blackpool against Littler. For a player at this level, the question is not only about coming back, but about coming back with rhythm.
That is where the 9-darter changes the reading. The accuracy was there straight away, with no visible settling-in period. DartsNews describes the perfect leg as his eighth 9-darter in the Players Championship, which also underlines his history in the short, sharp ProTour format.
The day was already being watched because of Luke Littler's announced return at Players Championships 27 and 28. Aspinall has now added another hot point in Leicester: a player who needed to restart his momentum and found the most direct way to do it.
A hot fact, not yet a conclusion
Caution still matters. A 9-darter does not make a title, especially on a ProTour day where matches come quickly and a draw can turn in a few legs. But the timing makes the story interesting: Aspinall is back, strikes immediately, and beats a Tricole who never really had time to build his match.
The rest of the day will show whether this start becomes a real run in Leicester. For now, the image is clear: Aspinall launched his return with the perfect leg. On this kind of day, that is already enough to make people look up.
