Stephen Bunting hails Beau Greaves as new challenger enters the fray in darts: "We’re all in trouble, to be honest"

The darting world has been fixated a very special piece of history having been created in Milton Keyes. Beau Greaves won Players Championship 11 in a monumental day for the sport. It has been credited by many fans and players, including world number nine Stephen Bunting who has said that she could go on and win a major title in the future. Along with that, he underlined what he must do if he is going to qualify for finals night in the Premier League Darts.

The race for the play-offs in this year’s Premier League is a hugely intriguing one, with Night 13 in Aberdeen the next port of call. With Jonny Clayton and Luke Littler leading the field from the top, there are realistically two places up for grabs fought over by six talented darters. Bunting believes that he is very much in the hunt.

Sitting seven points behind Michael van Gerwen in fourth, the former Masters champion knows there is work to do and points to be won if he is going to challenge for the title.

He has high ambitions. “I think there are four nights left and I need to win a minimum of two, so I’ve set my sights really high,” he said. “I want to finish on a bit of a pattern, to be honest, and hopefully I can start here in Aberdeen.”

In a repeat of their match in Scotland last year, he is facing an off-colour Gerwyn Price. The former world champion has lost at the quarterfinal stage in each of his last three outings in the Premier League, leaving the door open for players to attack from behind.

“I know what I need to do,” ‘The bullet’ continued. “I played Gerwyn Price here last year and beat him, so yeah, let’s start with that game. Don’t look too far forward—it’s all eyes on Price. Hopefully I can produce the goods and get through and have a really good night.”

While the Premier League is nearing its climax, it has taken a backseat for the time being with Greaves triumph on the ProTour a hugely significant moment in darts. Defeating former world champions Rob Cross and Gary Anderson before taking out a clutch 142 in the final against Michael Smith to become the first women to win a PDC ranking title.

The historic feat was enjoyed by virtually everyone in the darting world. “It’s amazing,” Bunting exclaimed. “It was a massive achievement to win a tour card anyway, and she absolutely smashed it. She’s a huge talent. She even said herself she didn’t think she was going to win ProTours, and she’s proved herself so far.

The 37-year-old rates ‘Beau ‘n’ Arrow’ very highly, scared to think of the level that she could reach in the future. “I think she’ll only go from strength to strength now with that confidence. We’re all in trouble, to be honest—and hopefully I don’t draw her in too many first rounds.”

With this recent success, the bar has now been raised for Greaves. There have been whispers of future major success, something that Bunting does not think is out of reach.

“Of course, yeah. She’s got that ceiling. She can average over 100, she’s very dangerous. Her scoring’s brilliant and her finishing’s really, really good as well. You saw the 142 she took out against Michael—once the first treble 20 went in, he knew the writing was on the wall. She’s got everything she needs: composure, scoring, finishing. To win like that, yeah—the world’s her oyster.”

In recent times, Bunting has enjoyed watching on a number of different sports. An avid football fan, he was there to join in Coventry City’s promotion celebrations after their 3-1 win to Wrexham. They celebrated the return to the Premier League for the first time since 2001 by blasting out the iconic ‘Titanium’ which Bunting utilises when walking onto stage.

With his club Liverpool not having a great campaign, Bunting enjoyed a change of fortune. “Obviously Liverpool’s season’s not gone too well, so it was nice to see someone lift a trophy, to be honest. One of the lads who plays for Coventry was literally doing my walkout on the team bus. Coventry wanted me to come down and surprise the lads, and yeah, it was a great day. Nice to meet Frank Lampard and Tom Grennan as well.”

His prestige from darts caught on among the fans and players. “They all wanted to come to the darts as well, which is brilliant. It was a surreal moment—when we left, there were loads of fans waiting for the players to come out. I walked out and they were all going nuts, asking for autographs and pictures. It was surreal outside a football stadium.”

Along with the footy, Bunting has been getting involved with horse racing. Teaming up with world number one Luke Littler and former Liverpool striker Michael Owen, the trio have bought a horse named after Bunting. “We’re always looking at doing different stuff outside the darts as well. Obviously Michael Owen is part of that partnership—there’s three of us—so yeah, it’s a great partnership,” he commented.

“Really excited about the horse. I think its first run will be on 30th May—I’ll have to speak to Hugo Palmer—but yeah, we’re all really excited. He’s said really good things about it, so hopefully we’ll get a win.”