Stephen Bunting enters this year’s World Darts Championships as one of the dark horses with the potential to lift the title. The 39-year-old Englishman is in eighth place and in the first match he will face the winner of the fight between Alan Soutar and Kai Gotthardt.
Both on and off the board, Bunting had a great 2024, winning his first PDC major title at the Masters, and nine months later became a father for the second time. “Now he’s settled in the house, he has his little three-to-four hour feeding routine. So yes, we’re up all night long, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Bunting says with a smile to Online darts. “It’s really important that we separate the family from the darts, but when I’m at home I take care of all the broadcasts at night and really help out.”
In 2024, Bunting has also become one of the most supported players in the entire sport as fans across the country go crazy for Bunting. “I’m becoming more and more recognizable. TikTok, Twitter and so on, it just peaked,” he laughs. “I think even though I haven’t had success on TV and stuff, I’ve had a really good Pro Tour campaign and I’m playing some of the best stuff I’ve ever played.”
Stephen Bunting in action
“My average for the season is 97, so my play is at a really good level and obviously it has nothing to do with winning this major. It helps me fight for the rest of the season,” he continues, thinking about returning to the Premier League. “The World Championships are big for me. I want to go there, have some great performances and make sure I’m in the Premier League. But I won’t go to the Championships thinking that I have to do it to qualify for the Premier League Championships.”
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Bunting was already the BDO world champion in 2014. In his quest to win the title at Pally’s allyspecial help was called. “I’ll be training with Luke Humphries over the next few weeks and I’m really looking forward to being in top form,” he explains. “It would be something special (to win the World Cup). I always dreamed of winning Lakeside. I never thought that one day I would be good enough to go and play in the PDC, but luckily the stars aligned and yes, we are there, I am number eight in the world, I play great darts, so why not?”
