"I'm coming to the end of my career": Stephen Bunting compares himself to Luke Littler with need to further 'Bunting brand'

Stephen Bunting admits that he has to strike while the irons hot so to speak when it comes to furthering his brand and also winning titles in comparison to the likes of Luke Littler as he opened up his World Matchplay campaign with a heroic win over Niels Zonneveld.

Going 12-12 to sudden death, Bunting showed absolute cojones to win through. In the decider, Zonneveld could only get down to 160 and Bunting got himself down to 60 and had the first shot to win, but he missed two darts at double 16. Zonneveld couldn't get it and Bunting returned for double 16 to snare an epic.

As expected, speaking to the media, including DartsNews after his win, he was very much in a bullish mood while also heaping praise on his felled opponent.

"I started off I felt really good. Niels started finding his feet. In the back of my mind, I thought it's his debut. Try and put as much pressure on him as I could. Listen, he's a fantastic player. I've played with him a few times. I knew the record. I knew how good he was. But listen, the Matchplay stage is so different. I had to dig, dig, dig, dig, dig really deep to be able to get through," said Bunting to the media including DartsNews.com.

"That's where the hypnotism comes into play. That's where everything comes into play. You never, ever give in, but you're still behind the stage, head in hands, wishing your opponent to miss. But thankfully, I was able to come back to the board. I can't remember the finish, the tops finish."

"I said to Niels, I said, "Niels, you're a lot younger than me. You've got a lot more years on this big stage and I promise you, you will have success on this stage." Because I know how good Niels is. He's a family man like me. He's a fantastic player and I feel a bit gutted for him. But at the end of the day, I've probably got 10 years left. He's probably got 30 years left in the sport. So yeah, thankfully, I'm over the line."

Bunting showed a lot more emotion than he usually does including telling himself 'I'm still here' and he said that he has a goal in mind and that is very much the Grand Slam of Darts and knowing he is still in to achieve that means more to him.

"I was down and out there. He was playing well. He was on top of the game and yeah, I was able to find something from somewhere to keep me in that match. And listen, I've got family here. I've got friends here. And I don't want them to see me whimper out and bow out at this stage. I want to be there. I want to be fighting for this title. And I know I'm capable of doing that. And listen, it's going to be a lot of hard work. But listen, my performances over the last few years, I know how good I can be. I need to be at my best to win this title. But listen, my name's still in the hat. I've been in the last 16 now. I've got a difficult game in Joshua. But listen, I want to win this and I'm going to give it everything I've got to push myself up the rankings, to win this title and get myself in the Grand Slam."

Bunting also of course hails from nearby in St Helens so like Littler, Chisnall among others he can stay in his own bed. He was asked if it brings more pressure and said that he tries to alleviate said pressure by making it a holiday.

"I think there would have been if I'd lost. I'd have been really upset. But I think for me, I always make it a holiday. So for me, the Matchplay is always pretty laid back. We stay for the week anyway. And then the last three, four days is on a cancellation. So yeah, we're here for the week, cancellation the last three days. Hopefully we can stay, and then we'll go to Gibraltar for a holiday after this. So listen, I'm in a really good place. I feel really good. I believe I'm playing really good darts. Sometimes it doesn't happen on the European Tour. It's been really warm in some of them. And I'm a big lad. But yeah, the Matchplay stage is normally really warm. Tonight thankfully, it wasn't. The only wetness I've got is because I've poured a bottle of water over my head."

Defending a lot of money at the PDC World Darts Championship, he was asked if it is on his mind both with the amount now available at the World's but also given what he has to defend.

"Well, thanks for putting that in. If you win the tournament, it's fine. You can double that. No, listen, it's always in the back of our mind. We always look at rankings. Listen, like I said, I know how good I can be, but that adds different pressure. So we need to try, whatever we do, try and look away from that. Because darts is an easy place when you don't put so much pressure on yourself. When you put all the pressure in the world on yourself, you know you're defending stuff, it becomes more difficult. So I need to forget about that. I need to knuckle down, do what I do best and that is hit trebles and hit doubles. And yeah, don't worry too much about the rankings. What will be, will be. But like I said, I believe I'm one of the best players in the world. I just need to believe it all the time."

Next up is Josh Rock and he said that while he is good friends with 'Rocky' who of course he has spent a lot of time with also during the Premier League, they will want to rip each others heads off when they get on the oche.

"Josh is a fantastic player. We've got so much respect for each other. We're really good friends. But when it comes to Tuesday night, we're going to want to rip each other's head off. That's what it's about. And listen, I'm a really good friend of his, but I want to win this title. I know what I need to do. I need to hit me trebles. I need to hit me doubles. And I need to stop Josh doing that. And listen, if I play some really good legs, I'm going to stop him doing that and that's the plan."

Bunting has an autobiography coming out and as ever, he very much has other irons in the fire in his career that aren't darts and asked about how much he can really take his mind off the rankings with all that, he said he tries but ultimately sometimes it is hard to.

"Look, like I said, sometimes you can't. Listen, for me, it's so important to try and forget it. I've got so much stuff going on in my head at the moment. I've got the book coming out. I've got my YouTube. And I'm trying to be a professional and successful dart player. And thankfully, I'm able to forget about the rankings at the moment. I don't really think about it as much as you guys probably do. But listen, I know at the end of the day, over the last few years, I've been one of the best players in the world. And I know for a fact, the next few years, I need to keep doing what I've done to keep myself... Listen, I want to be back in the Premier League. I want to be in the biggest tournaments in the world. But I'm under no illusion that I need to improve. And I'm going to keep trying."

Speaking of the book, he admits that he doesn't have long left in his career but wants to further the Bunting brand as much as he can.

"Listen, I'm coming to the end of my career. You've got the likes of Luke Littler; he's got a long time. They're taking a lot of time away from the tour. And I've still played an awful lot of darts this year. I still feel pretty fresh for what I've done, to be honest. I think we've managed the calendar really well. It's nice to be able to bring the family here. It's nice to be able to go on holiday next week and go to Gibraltar and really enjoy that time.

"And yeah, listen, the book, everything else, everything I'm working for is part of the Bunting brand to increase that. And listen, without the fans, we're nothing. And keeping them on board, keeping playing great darts, that's what it's all about. Thankfully, I'm able to juggle it at the moment, but we'll see what happens in the future."