Stephen Bunting banks £35k in World Darts Championship win as next opponent confirmed
Stephen Bunting has banked £35,000 after progressing into the PDC World Darts Championship fourth round after a win over Madars Razma. The Bullet cruised into the next round of the tournament, where he will face Luke Woodhouse for a place in the quarter-finals.
The lifelong Liverpool fan averaged over 100, 100.06, as he hit six 180s to Razma's two rounding off the 4-1 win with a checkout of 86. Bunting missed two darts at double 18 before booking his spot in the last-32 with the final dart.
He averaged 34 percent at the doubles, hitting 14 out of 41 opportunities. He takes on fellow Englishman, Woodhouse, who came from three-sets-to-one behind to beat Damon Heta earlier in the afternoon session on Friday.
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The number eight seed is looking to match and exceed his best performance in the competition of the semi-finals in 2021, losing out to eventual winner Gerwyn Price. Bunting has become a crowd favourite at Alexandra Palace and paid tribute to his supporters.
"When you've got a crowd like this behind you, you can win anything," the 39-year-old said. "I'm not being funny, unbelievable again, thank you to each and every one of you for your support because I felt like he played quite well there but never went away.
"You guys... wow. Let's go Bunting mental. Unbelievable," Bunting added. "It's so tough players Madars, I've got a lot of respect for him, I know what he can do but unfortunately, he couldn't produce his best. I managed to weather a storm mid-game and I was so happy with my performance.
"Christmas is out the way but if you can't play great darts in front of these, there's something wrong. These are going to get me all the way through, they're unbelievable.
"I've dreamt about it for the last 20 years, it's something I'd love to do but I've got a task in hand, I've got to look to the next game, Luke Woodhouse. I have to get on the practice board and make sure I'm ready for that. With the Bunting away behind us, who's going to stop us?"
