"I'm the underdog so there's no pressure on me" - Stephen Bunting with nothing to lose in Michael van Gerwen tie at the World Darts Championship

The impressive run of form from Stephen Bunting continued on Thursday afternoon at the Alexandra Palace as the former Lakeside champion eased into the last 16 at the World Darts Championship with a 4-0 win over Florian Hempel.

"It's amazing to get through. Florian played really well to be fair, he gave me a real challenge there" says a modest Bunting in his post-match press conference, having averaged well over 100 for the majority of the match before tailing off slightly, to finish at 101.15. "I felt really nervous to be honest. In the back room and in the mid point of the game I was pretty nervous. But I knew I was playing really well and it was an amazing feeling."

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After averaging over 107 in the first round, many people are now touting Bunting as one of the dark horses for overall victory at the Alexandra Palace. "They were all talking about the 107 average, asking can he do it again," Bunting acknowledges. "After the first the first two sets I thought I was going to blow that out of the water! But it's all about getting over the line, it doesn't matter if you average 110 or 92."

The biggest obstacle for Bunting to overcame, is his opponent in the last 16. Three-time world champion and the man who defeated Bunting at the recent Players Championships Finals, Michael van Gerwen. Following the Dutchman's victory over Richard Veenstra on Wednesday, van Gerwen demanded "Give me Bunting." Now he has his wish.

"He's the massive favourite isn't he. I'm the underdog so there's no pressure on me is there," Bunting analyses with a wry smile. When reminded of van Gerwen asking for Bunting, "He's got him hasn't he!" came the reply.

"Obviously Michael van Gerwen is a special, special talent. I need to play well to win but there's no pressure on me at all. I'm a massive underdog and I'll go into it thinking that way."

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