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STEPHEN BUNTING is poised to play a crucial role at Ally Pally next month by serving as the practice partner for both of the LUKES!
The Bullet, 39, has reached the heights of world darts, achieving this milestone at Lakeside nearly 11 years ago.
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Although he has not been able to replicate his past triumphs since moving to the PDC, Bunting’s victory at the Masters in February has greatly boosted both his confidence and financial situation.
Bunting, a resident of St Helens, is determined to become the fifth person ever to secure both the BDO and PDC world titles.
To gear up for his upcoming season, he plans to hold training sessions with world No.1 Luke Humphries and Luke Littler, who hails from Warrington.
The two Lukes might face off in the semi-finals of the World Championship, following their exciting final match last year, which captivated 4.8 million viewers live on Sky Sports.
However, Bunting could shake up the anticipated matchups, as he may encounter Humphries in the quarter-finals and then Littler in the semi-finals.
He noted: “Luke (Humphries) and I talked about practicing together a few months ago.
“The location is ideal since we are in the same region.
“I definitely see us having two or three practice sessions before the Worlds. That should put me in a good place.
“Practicing with the world’s best player is perfect for my development.
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“We’ve also had a discussion with Luke (Littler). We have a close relationship with his team. I respect Luke a lot. He has brought a new angle to the darts world.
“He’s making headlines everywhere. We briefly chatted at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton. Luke has truly broken down barriers in darts.”
‘Very emotional’ Stephen Bunting tells a Sky Sports host not to make him cry live on air after reaching the knockout stages
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Bunting, whose second son was born just NINE months after his £65,000 Masters victory, enters the tournament as the No.8 seed in the competitive 96-player field.
His first match will be against either eager Scotsman Alan Soutar or German qualifier Kai Gotthardt, and he finds himself in the same quarter as Humphries.
The devoted Liverpool fan shared: “My performance on TV hasn’t been spectacular this year, barring the Masters win.
“I faced Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson early in major tournaments, and the draw for the Grand Slam was rather tough. So, I’ve had some challenging draws.
“It would be great to experience a successful streak and advance into the larger matches.
“I flourish in set-play, which is where I’ve secured most of my championships.
“I’ve had some good runs at Ally Pally in the past. I feel very confident and excited for the upcoming event.”
+ Stephen Bunting was discussing this in relation to Darts Free Bets. For more information, visit free.bets.com/darts/
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts World Champions by year.
The following list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
This means that Raymond van Barneveld is listed only once, despite winning four BDO titles, and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO championships are counted.
- 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
