Stephen The Bullet Bunting is making himself very comfortable in the winners’ enclosure this season, picking up his second Players Championship crown of the year with an 8-6 victory over Jonny Clayton.
Remarkably, this came 24 hours after he’d suffering a gut-wrenching last-leg defeat to Jeffrey de Graaf. Lesser mortals might have sulked their way home through the Milton Keynes roundabouts, but not Bunting. Instead, he dusted himself off, channelled his walk-on anthem lyrics You shoot me down, but I won’t fall, and Stephen grabbed the glory.
Bunting’s campaign started shakily, needing every leg to edge past Italy’s Michele Turetta in round one. But once the rust was shaken off, the St Helens thrower unleashed the kind of tungsten artillery that left his opponents ducking for cover.
A monstrous 111.66 average against Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogaerde set the tone, and from there it was ton-plus salvo after ton-plus salvo. Ritchie Edhouse, Cor Dekker, and Wessel Nijman all played well – but not well enough to dodge The Bullet’s barrage.
The semi-final against Willie O’Connor had more twists than a country lane. Bunting looked safe at 5–2 up before O’Connor fought back to force a decider. But as this tale ends with Stephen being victorious, you already know how that leg went.
In the final, Bunting found himself up against Jonny Clayton. Just like the previous game, the Liverpudlian blasted out of the blocks, racing into a 5–1 lead. Clayton, though, is not a man who goes quietly. With the tenacity of a ferret digging under a chicken coop, the Welshman clawed his way back into contention, even earning darts to level the match.
But Bunting, clearly not in the mood for another wedding-day heartbreak, nailed the finish to get over the line 8–6 and bag his fifth title of the season. Impressive stuff.
Elsewhere, Gerwyn Price was forced to withdraw when his throwing hand swelled alarmingly – large enough, by some accounts, to use as a flotation device back to Markham. Michael van Gerwen, meanwhile, is still hunting for that old sparkle, crashing out in round two at the hands of Madars Razma.
And once again, Beau Greaves proved she’s far too good to be treated as a guest star. She whitewashed the experienced Mickey Mansell, then pushed Danny Noppert all the way in a high-quality thriller before bowing out. The Doncaster ace continues to show she belongs permanently on the Pro Tour.
For Bunting, though, this was a perfect reminder of why they call him The Bullet: even if you think you’ve dodged him, he’ll come flying back twice as fast.
2025 Players Championship 25
Tuesday August 26
Arena MK, Milton Keynes
Last 16
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Cor Dekker
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Rob Cross
William O’Connor 6-2 Keane Barry
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 David Davies
Martin Schindler 6-5 Justin Hood
Gian van Veen 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Alan Soutar 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Robert Grundy
Quarter-Finals
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Wessel Nijman
William O’Connor 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Martin Schindler 6-3 Gian van Veen
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Alan Soutar
Semi-Finals
Stephen Bunting 7-6 William O’Connor
Jonny Clayton 7-6 Martin Schindler
Final
Stephen Bunting 8-6 Jonny Clayton
Nine-Darter!
Dirk van Duijvenbode hit a nine-darter in his third round tie against Daryl Gurney.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
