Damon Heta says he’s still waiting for his £60,000 prize from Paddy Power.
The Australian ace produced magic at the Ally Pally with his perfect nine-dart leg in his loss to Luke Woodhouse.
Tournament sponsors Paddy Power were dishing out £180,000 for any nines at the Worlds split three ways between the player, Prostate Cancer UK and a lucky fan in the crowd.
Heta stated at the time he was going to treat himself to a Rolex watch with his share, but when asked if he had secured his gift to himself yet, he laughed: “Obviously, I’ve still got my sundial, as you can see. Paddy Power has been slow to pay! Make sure you get that out there!
“But, nah, we’ll just roll with what we’ve got at the moment until the dollars come through, mate.
“Obviously, the nine-darter, brilliant. I’ve never felt anything like it. I never heard a crowd like it and I was hanging on to every single dart as they were.
“Like I said, I’d give that nine-darter back for the win, 100 per cent.
“But at the end of the day, we move on, and like I said, we’ve got a whole season ahead of us and that’s what I’m looking forward to.
“You’ve always got to look forward rather than looking back. You can just learn your lessons and that’s where I’ve learnt my lesson. Moving on, let’s go for it.”
Heta spent his New Year in Scotland after the Ally Pally to get rested for the 2025 term.
He added: “Pretty quick. I went up to Scotland, I had mates over from Oz, we had the New Year’s and we had a good time up there and then I went back to Oz.
“Darts was never even a thought. On my news feeds, there was no darts coming up, for the whole time being in Oz, just because of the region that it is, or I don’t know.
“Then, obviously, I’d come back and my feed’s flooded with darts and crap. So it was good to get away and stuff like that. I’m just ready for the new season.
“I always feel good every season. I put in the time, effort, I’m a workhorse, things happen for me and I just got the job done there.
“I just took my chances. I feel good. I’m ready for the season, bring it on.”