STEPHEN BUNTING has revealed that he still plays in his local darts league.
The No8-ranked player in the world is getting ready for this weekend’s Players Championship Finals.
AlamyStephen Bunting is a cult hero on the darts circuit[/caption]
But the down-to-earth star is keen to never forget his roots in the sport, and still loves to play locally with his mates.
Speaking to Ladbrokes ahead of the Butlins tournament, Bunting opened up on how continuing to play with his pals helps him at the big events.
He said: “I’ve got sessions booked in with a friend and I had local darts on Tuesday night, so I have been able to get out… I will be ready for the Players Championship this weekend, for sure.
“The local darts is great – I’ll never forget my roots, and I’ve been playing for the last three years now, I think.
“I really enjoy it; it’s my only night out through the week so I love seeing my mates and having a good time with them.
“I play dominoes as well, but we lost last night, so I won’t talk about that too much!”
Despite his pro status Bunting does not go easy on his mates, boasting an imperious record at local level.
He added: “I don’t think I’ve lost a game in the local league in the last three years – I can’t think of one, anyway – so I’ve got quite a good record.
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“I played really well last night, so that gives me good hopes going into this weekend. Even though it’s local league, you’re still picking up bits of confidence from how well you’re playing in it.
“Sometimes it’s actually harder to play local league because you’re expected to win – and you’ve got the added pressure of being in a team, so you don’t want to let your team-mates down.
“The pressure of that is immense, but I just like being out with my mates.”
Bunting, 39, has witnessed the incredible rise of darts this year first hand, and has no qualms about recognising Luke Littler‘s remarkable impact.
On the teenage wonderkid, Bunting said: “I get asked about Luke Littler so much – I’ve already been asked about him three times today and it’s only 10am!
“He’s a phenomenon, to be honest. People like him don’t come around every day. Even when you look at what he was doing on the youth circuit… people were building him up, but you never know what’s going to happen until he gets up on those stages.
Sometimes it’s actually harder to play local league because you’re expected to win.
Stephen Bunting
“Me, personally, I thought he could have possibly struggled, just because of the difference in crowd sizes and the idea of playing in front of thousands of people, week-in, week-out. But he’s just been a revelation, to be honest. He’s taken to things like a duck to water.
“He’s such a nice lad, as well; people don’t see the player or the person that we get to see in the back room… he’s very unassuming, he’ll be sat there watching either Man United on his phone, or cartoons, or whatever it is he watches!
“He just seems to have his head screwed on and I wish him every success… unless he’s playing me.
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“Luke’s brought so much attention to our game from a younger audience – I’ve even noticed it myself. I went to JD for a pair of trainers, not long back, and there must have been about 15 to 20 kids following me in for pictures and autographs!
“That’s never happened before… that’s the Luke Littler effect. It can only make our game bigger and better, and ultimately, prize money is only going to go up, the more interest there is.
“It’s an interesting times for darts – we’re all very lucky to be playing in the era of Luke.”
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
1994 – Dennis Priestley
1995 – Phil Taylor
1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
2003 – John Part
2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
2008 – John Part (2)
2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
2011 – Adrian Lewis
2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
2014 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Gary Anderson
2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
2018 – Rob Cross
2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
2020 – Peter Wright
2021 – Gerwyn Price
2022 – Peter Wright (2)
2023 – Michael Smith
2024 – Luke Humphries
Most World Titles
14 – Phil Taylor
3 – Michael van Gerwen
2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries