Lovable Liverpudlian Stephen Bunting claimed the Premier League spoils on a raucous Thursday night of darts, illuminating Belfast – and indeed a global audience – with a reminder of his considerable artillery. It was not merely a victory; it was a reaffirmation.
Consistency is the sacred currency of any individual discipline, and darts is no indulgent exception. Across the past two seasons, Bunting has embodied that principle with admirable diligence – eclipsed perhaps only by the relentless acquisitiveness of the human trophy hoover, Luke Littler.
In recent years, the former Lakeside champion has navigated his way to ten Players Championship finals, an extraordinary statistic in its own right. During last season’s Euro Tour expeditions, he harvested a pair of titles, replicating that return on the World Series stage. Even when silverware eludes him, Bunting is habitually loitering at the tournament’s commercial district, hovering ominously at the business end.
Another indispensable attribute within this sport is psychological robustness – the fortitude to exhibit resilience when the chips are emphatically down. Few demonstrate that mettle more reliably than the St Helens stalwart.
Darts Momentum Must Start Somewhere
Arriving in Belfast, The Bullet carried the unwelcome baggage of three consecutive Premier League opening match defeats. His league tally remained obstinately static, and although the campaign was embryonic, the murmurs of scrutiny were intensifying. It was terrain he had traversed before – albeit previously on a far more protracted and punishing pilgrimage.
During the 2025 edition, Bunting metaphorically blistered his feet trudging from arena to arena in pursuit of that elusive maiden victory. His performances were seldom substandard; more often than not, boasting averages north of a ton. The deficiency lay solely in the win column. Then, in Berlin on week nine, the alchemy materialised. He not only liberated himself from zero but surged all the way to nightly glory. Belfast, in many respects, offered a thematic reprise – mercifully with a more expedited ascent.
Compounding matters, Bunting has also endured the ignominy of online derision from critics questioning his inclusion in the Class of 2026. Six PDC titles – numerically identical to Gerwyn Price – would suggest his credentials are hardly ornamental. Yet the decibel level of dissent rose with each Thursday stumble in Newcastle, Antwerp and Glasgow.
Against that backdrop of scepticism, cumulative pressure and lingering memories of last year’s travails, to respond with two imperious performances and then subdue the high-flying Gian van Veen in the final was profoundly commendable.
What Stephen Bunting accomplished was not solely an exhibition of technical aptitude. It demanded courage, strategic acumen, psychological tenacity and an unshakeable conviction that he merits his place among the Premier League elite – not as a participant, but as a protagonist.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
