"People earning a lot of money become a lot more selfish": Stephen Bunting open on mental health in sport and effect of high prize money

PDC
Thursday, 13 February 2025 at 19:00
stephen bunting
Stephen Bunting has made a fantastic start to the new year. 'The Bullet' won the Bahrain Darts Masters in mid-January and a week later also reached the final at the Dutch Darts Masters, both part of the World Series of Darts. Bunting is currently fifth in the world rankings and is looking to move up even further this year.
Bunting reached the semifinals at the last World Darts Championship, in which he lost to Luke Littler. The 39-year-old Englishman also attributes his strong performance in recent months to his collaboration with a sports psychologist.
"It's massive to be honest, I know single handedly, I've been in the situation myself where you feel down in the dumps and you can't speak to people. Obviously having a centre like this where people can come to and open up about anything really. Just take your mind off stuff," said Bunting to Oche.
Stephen Bunting in action
Stephen Bunting in action
Price money
Prize money has increased tremendously in the dart world in recent years. "I think different players deal with it in a different way. I think obviously Luke Littler the way he's bounced onto the scene, he doesn't seem to have a care in the world at the minute. In the future, the money changes people. You see people earning a lot of money become a lot more selfish.
"For me it's about looking after my family, I've got a great team behind me pushing forward. I've not got many years left in my career but while the money is there, I want to take as much money as I can."
Next up for Stephen Bunting is a meeting with the Dutch master Michael van Gerwen. He was at the Men's Shed in Govan for the interview given ahead of playing in Glasgow on Thursday night in the Premier League Darts.
As a player who has managed to come out the other side when it comes to mental health and also psychology on the oche, Bunting is the perfect ambassador for it.
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