Stephen Bunting laments needs must gruelling schedule: "I am defending big money at the World Championship, I am trying my hardest"

A Quarter-FInal hammering at the hands of Wessel Nijman was the end of Stephen Bunting's weekend in Bratislava and he will today be en route to the US Darts Masters to play in New York.

Bunting as part of the so-called darting elite gets these extra opportunities, but he admitted in Bratislava that it is starting to take its toll. 'The Bullet' said that he has a number of factors which are disrupting him such as defending a huge amount of prize money at the next PDC World Darts Championship.

Similar to Michael van Gerwen, it has meant that with a ranking drop very much imminent if not he has to play everything if he wants to keep his seat at the top table of World Darts.

That is what has made it slightly more of a hindrance than ever for Bunting who also plays in a number of unranked events such as the US World Series and while grateful for the opportunities it doesn't help what he needs to achieve elsewhere. “That’s what makes it more difficult. I am looking for results elsewhere," said Bunting in Bratislava.

“I know I am defending big money at the World Championships. I am trying my hardest.

He also spoke about the travel schedule that he is finding difficult going from Slovakia back home to the UK, then immediately on a long flight to New York to play in the US Darts Masters. A country that goes for it in terms of pre-tournament media days, and so Bunting will have his hands full before he even takes to the oche on the early hours of Friday morning in the US.

“It’s so hard travelling playing Premier League, travelling the European Tour, doing the ProTours then going to New York.

“I get home on Monday and then I fly to New York on Tuesday for the World Series. It’s so difficult but we need to turn up to these events.”

This though led to Luke Humphries for instance saying that he skipped the Slovak Darts Open due to the US tournament and that him and Littler likely would've played had it been better placed in the year due to it being a first time event.

It is either that or taking the route that Bunting has taken and that is to play anyway and deal with the issues later, but under less pressure ranking wise he can deal with that.

But while he laments that, he speaks glowingly of the fans as a reason to travel and that makes it worth it to him amid his own personal gripes at the moment as to how much he is doing.

“I feed off these fans and they mean the world to me. Whether I am in Bratislava, Germany or the UK I always feel the force of the fans.”