"I'm playing the best darts of my life": Sublime Stephen Bunting looks ahead to World Masters after Dutch Darts Masters final loss

Stephen Bunting failed to win a World Series of Darts tournament for the second week in a row. 'The Bullet', the best at the Bahrain Darts Masters last weekend, went down 8-5 against Rob Cross in the final of the Dutch Darts Masters. Still, Bunting leaves Den Bosch with a lot of confidence and is ready for the Winmau World Masters, the first PDC major of the new year.

Despite the defeat in the final, Bunting still looked back on the tournament and the past few weeks with fondness. "To reach two finals back-to-back is amazing for me and it was a great final," said Bunting. "Rob played a really good game and had me under pressure from the start.

"If you'd said to me at the start of the tournament that I was going to be in the final I'd have taken it. Credit goes to Rob. I'll dust myself down and get ready for Milton Keynes next week.

Bunting has had an excellent 2024 and confirmed his status as a top player at the past World Darts Championship, where he reached the semifinals. Meanwhile, the 39-year-old Englishman has climbed to fifth in the world rankings and was also selected for the Premier League Darts.

"I'm playing the best darts of my life, and with the fanbase I've got, the social media; everything around me is in a great place and I can't wait to continue the form in the World Masters."