STEPHEN BUNTING could play a key role at Ally Pally next month – as the practice partner for both LUKES!
The Bullet, 39, knows what it is like to scale the summit of world darts, having done so at Lakeside nearly 11 years ago.
AlamyStephen Bunting is the practice partner for Luke Littler and Luke Humphries[/caption]
AlamyThe two are the favourites to win the World Darts Championship at Ally Pally[/caption]
It has not happened for him in the same way since switching over to the PDC ranks but lifting the Masters trophy in February was a significant confidence and bank-balance booster.
Bunting – who lives in St Helens – would love to become the fifth person to lift both versions, BDO and PDC, of the world crown.
And in advance of his latest campaign, he plans to do training sessions with Cheshire-based world No.1 Luke Humphries AND Luke Littler, who hails from Warrington.
The Lukes of Hazard could meet in the semi-finals of the Worlds, a year on from their epic final showdown, which was watched live on Sky Sports by an audience of 4.8million.
Bunting may upset the cart, though, as he could face Humphries in the quarter-finals and then Littler in the semis.
He said: “I think Luke (Humphries) and I touched on it a few months ago and talked about practice together.
“Location is the key, we are in the same area.
“So I think we’ll definitely get in two or three sessions before the Worlds. I think that will put me in really good stead.
“It will be ideal for me to practice with the best player in the world.
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“We also talked about it with Luke (Littler). We are really close friends with his team. I really like Luke. He’s brought a different air to the scene of darts.
“Everyone is talking about him. We talked briefly with him at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton. Luke has smashed the glass ceiling off darts.”
Bunting – whose second son was born NINE months after his £65,000 Masters success – is the No.8 seed in the 96-player field.
He will open up against either proud Scotsman Alan Soutar or German qualifier Kai Gotthardt but is in the same quarter as Humphries.
The ardent Liverpool fan said: “My TV form hasn’t been brilliant this year, apart from the Masters win.
“I played Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson early in majors and I had the Group of Death in the Grand Slam. So the draws haven’t been too kind.
“It would be nice to get a little bit of a run and build my way up to play in the big games.
“The set-play is where I really thrive. That’s where I’ve won most of my titles.
“The last few years I’ve had really good runs at Ally Pally. I’m really confident and looking forward to it.”
+ Stephen Bunting was talking in association with Darts Free Bets. For details visit free.bets.com/darts/
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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