Stephen Bunting picked up his first win of the 2025 Premier League Darts season on Thursday night, shortly after he 'nailed perfection' in the practice room ahead of his match with Nathan Aspinall.
It has been a difficult campaign for the much-loved St Helens thrower, who came into nine night of Premier League Darts with zero wins.
But in the build-up to Thursday's event in Berlin, Bunting produced a rare nine-darter in the practice room, which proved a good omen for the 39-year-old as he went on to secure an emphatic 6-2 win over Nathan Aspinall.
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Sky Sports decided to broadcast the nine-darter, which happened around half an hour before Bunting took to the Uber Arena stage.
"We never normally get this on camera," said presenter Emma Paton, who was standing next to Wayne Mardle and Mark Webster on stage. "This is Bunting with a nine-darter in practice. That bodes well, doesn't it?"
"Look how smooth these darts are," added Mardle, who was clearly delighted for Bunting. "The fluency. There's no jerking, no throwing his body... no nothing. He hasn't thrown that well in eight weeks."
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After his defeat to Chris Dobey in Cardiff last month, an emotional Bunting took to social media to release a statement.
"Absolutely gutted. So sorry to all who support me," he said. "Practiced so well tonight and unfortunately it just didn’t happen on the stage. I’ll keep giving it my all guys and keep believing."
"I’m making myself so nervous because I care and want to perform to my best instead of just relaxing and letting it happen," he added. "See you all next week. I’ll work hard and make sure I’ll improve."
A week later, he suffered a 6-0 defeat to reigning world champion Luke Littler, who gave his opponent some advice. "I think last week he said he’s putting too much pressure on himself, without a win in eight weeks,” he said.
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"If I were Stephen you’ve just got to relax, you've just go to say: 'Come on, win that first game'. I’m sure once he gets that first win and gets that winning feeling he’ll go on, I think he could win a night."
As mentioned above, Bunting secured his first victory of the 2025 campaign at the ninth time of asking, as he recorded a 6-2 win over Nathan Aspinall with a 103.4 average.
Topics: Darts
Jack Kenmare