STEPHEN BUNTING hilariously kicked out at Luke Littler after losing to the teenager at the World Darts Championship.
Bunting, 39, captivated Ally Pally crowds throughout his run to the semi-finals.
X @SkySportsStephen Bunting hilariously kicked out towards Luke Littler[/caption]
RexBunting, 39, was gracious in defeat[/caption]
Wonderkid Littler, 17, proved to be too on the night, however, sweeping Bunting aside 6-1 to book his place in the final.
Ever the showman, “The Nuke” finished the contest with a Big Fish – which consists of two treble 20s followed by a bullseye and is the highest possible checkout.
Bunting took his defeat with typical good grace.
With a big smile on his face, he jokingly kicked out towards Littler, before congratulating his victorious opponent with a warm handshake.
Littler will now prepare for tonight’s final against Michael van Gerwen.
The Dutchman, 35, is a fearsome proposition – having won this tournament three times.
But Littler will not be overawed by the occasion.
After last night’s win, he said: “Everyone else is looking forward to it more than I am, but if I win seven sets I will be happy.
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World Darts Championship – top stories
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“Michael has been in numerous finals, this is my second, I know where I went wrong last year and I am sure I will fix it.
“It’s the stuff of dreams, everyone wants to pick up a trophy, but you have to be at the top of your game to do it.
“I have got no pressure, I am going to enjoy it, if I can get off to a quick start I’ll be happy.”
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, referred to his experience advantage over his opponent.
He said: “I have been there before, the smell is not good enough, you want to touch it.
“Luke’s been there, he has had a sniff. I am going to make sure he keeps it as just a sniff as well.
“I was the favourite two years ago and lost.
“Now I’m not favourite, and maybe I’m going to win it. You never know.”
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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
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