James Wade and Robert Thornton created history by both hitting nine-darters at the partypoker.com World Grand Prix on Wednesday night, as Phil Taylor, Kevin Painter and Gary Anderson all came from behind to secure second-round wins in Dublin.
Wade had been on the receiving end of the first-ever nine-dart finish in the double-start format when he took on Brendan Dolan in the 2011 World Grand Prix semi-finals.
The left-hander this time create his own slice of history as he opened the second set of their contest by scoring 160 and 180 before taking out 161 on the bullseye for a perfect leg.
Having been a set up at the time, Wade then took out 156 to lead 2-0 in the second set, only for Thornton to hit back and win the set 3-2 and repeat the scoreline in the third.
The Scot then matched Wade's earlier nine-darter in the second leg of set four, scoring 160, 180 and 161 himself to not only complete a perfect leg but also to ensure the game would go down in history as the first where both players have achieved the feat, even more remarkable given the double-start format.
Thornton, though, missed four match darts as Wade edged the fourth set 3-2 before winning the deciding set 3-1 to remain on course to win a third World Grand Prix title.
Thornton had competed in the event despite his mother passing away last week, and had flown back from Scotland on Wednesday afternoon following the funeral earlier in the day - and Wade admitted: "I can only congratulate Robert for what he's achieved there.
"I'm really happy that I won, but to play Robert in the situation he did was so hard. I got a little bit excited with my nine-darter, and for Robert to do one as well was great.
"There was no nice way to play Robert tonight with what he's gone through, and for him to do what he's done shows that there's nobody with any bigger heart than him.
"I'm just glad to get through because after playing a game like that it doesn't get any harder. I'll look forward to playing my next game and not having any emotional attachment to it."
The excitement of that clash eclipsed the drama of the night's opening second round game, as Kevin Painter came from two sets down to defeat Adrian Lewis 3-2 in a thrilling sudden-death leg.
Lewis had edged the opening two sets 3-2, hitting a superb 142 checkout to win the second, only for Painter to race through set three without reply to kick-start his challenge.
Painter then came from 2-1 down to win the fourth set in a deciding leg - after Lewis missed one match dart at the bull - before defying the Stoke ace's fourth ton-plus finish by hitting his eighth 180 in the game's deciding leg, as he moved into the quarter-finals.
Reigning champion Phil Taylor also found himself behind as newcomer Andrew Gilding took the first set of their clash 3-0 with a sensational opening three legs of 13, 14 and 14 darts.
Gilding also shared the opening four legs of the second set, but his opening doubles crucially deserted him in the decider as seven missed starting shots allowed Taylor to pull clear and level the game on double 16.
The 11-time World Grand Prix winner then hit back from a leg down to win the third set 3-1 and took the fourth without reply as he progressed to a quarter-final tie with Wade on Friday.
"It was a strange game but I'm glad to get through it," said Taylor. "When I got ahead I hit him hard and managed to get the job done.
"In my mind I was hoping Andrew would start thinking about what he was doing, and his starting went a little bit astray. He's a tremendous scorer and he finished well, and he's one for the future - he'll learn from that."
World number six Gary Anderson also hit back from a set down as he ended the hopes of Northern Ireland's Mickey Mansell with a 3-1 victory.
Mansell took the opening set 3-1 and also led in the second, but Anderson hit top gear to reel off nine successive legs - including key finishes of 100, 88 and 80 - as he moved into a tasty quarter-final with Painter.
"Mickey started well and is a tough opponent, so I'm glad I managed to pull it back," said Anderson. "I never seem to make it easy for myself, but I'm happy with my game overall because I'm starting pretty well and scoring well."
The second round concludes today with the remaining four games, including World Champion Michael van Gerwen - the 2012 World Grand Prix winner - taking on Dean Winstanley.
Two former Dublin finalists face off as Raymond van Barneveld meets Mervyn King, while two-time runner-up Terry Jenkins plays Richie Burnett and Peter Wright takes on Stephen Bunting.
