Luke Littler couldn’t resist a little pop at Stephen Bunting after the Bullet’s shock defeat at the World Darts Championship on Saturday.
Littler surged into the the last 16 at Alexandra Palace on Saturday night, hammering Mensur Suljovic 4-0 with a stunning 107.09 average.
The defending champion looked imperious as he landed over 70 per cent of his shots at doubles to set up a fourth round meeting with Damon Heta or Rob Cross.
It was quite the opposite trip to Ally Pally for Bunting as he was well below par in a 4-3 defeat to James Hurrell.
The world number four averaged just 91.43 and could easily have lost by a much greater distance to the unseeded player who was clearly playing the better darts over the game.
After his first round win over Sebastian Bialecki, Bunting had been bullish over his substantial support, saying: ‘I’m Stephen Bunting. I’m the People’s Champion.
‘The crowd’s been unbelievable to me over the past two or three years. I believe I’ve got the best fan base in darts. I’ve got the best social media in darts. The only thing I’m lacking is the World Championship and it’s coming this year.’
Littler was not asked about Bunting after beating Suljovic but was questioned on how the ‘Luke Littler effect’ had boosted darts’ popularity and he chose to have a cheeky dig at the Bullet.
‘Obviously the Luke Littler effect is still going strong in this tournament,’ he said. ‘I don’t think the Bunting effect is going too well this tournament. So yeah, maybe I’ve got the biggest fanbase.’
He added: ‘I had to say that, sorry.’
Hurrell confident he can go even further
41-year-old Hurrell has been around for a number of years without making a huge impact, but has seemingly stepped up his game in recent weeks.
Wins over Jonny Clayton and Luke Woodhouse saw him reach the last 16 of the Players Championship Finals last month and he is now supremely confident as he prepares to face Ryan Searle of Martin Schindler next.
‘Amazing, absolutely amazing, Biggest win of my career so all good,’ he said of how he felt after downing Bunting.
‘I knew where my game was coming into the game, I just needed to sort my doubles out a bit. I’m confident, I’m not going anywhere.
‘I should have won 4-0, to be fair. Relaxed, wasn’t nervous. I’m not feeling no nerves or nothing. I’m so confident in my game.’
Littler admits one weakness
As for Littler, he further cemented his position as clear favourite to win the World Championship title again with his dominant performance.
Somewhat worryingly for his rivals, he admitted he still sees weakness in his game, which he intends to improve on.
‘If I’m honest, mentally on the stage I don’t think I’m really that good,’ he said. ‘I can still lose my head a bit, I can throw a dart in the board out of frustration.
‘I can get frustrated, we all do. But I’m still only 18, I can still work on it. You can only build on it and try and stop that. Obviously if I’m winning 3-0 and 4-0 there’s nothing to worry about.’
Asked what winds him up on stage, he said: ‘Missing doubles. Someone giving it large when they hold their throw. Not saying who. But yeah, that’s it.’
When is Luke Littler playing next?
The fourth round is played on the evening session of Monday December 29 and over the afternoon and evening of Tuesday December 30.
The playing schedule is yet to be confirmed, but the Nuke will be performing in one of those three sessions.