"The fanbase is there, the walk-on is great, but I'm saying nothing" - Stephen Bunting into last 16 at Grand Slam but quiet on talk of Premier League return

For the fifth time in his career, Stephen Bunting has successfully navigated the potential perils of the group stage at the Grand Slam of Darts. In a straight shootout for a place in the knockout stages in Wolverhampton, Bunting defeated Josh Rock 5-2 on Tuesday night.

Rock missed three chances in the fourth leg to take a 3-1 lead. Those proved costly misses too as Bunting first got back to level terms and made it 2-2 before then surging ahead into a 4-2 lead through two 11-darters. A 12-darter in the seventh leg then gave 'The Bullet' the victory. The reigning Masters champion will now take on two-time world champion Gary Anderson in a mouth watering second round tie.

"It's very emotional to be honest, I'm an emotional guy so I had to check myself back to make sure I wouldn't cry. I even had to say to Mark Webster: 'Don't say anything so I cry on Sky again!'" Bunting reflected afterwards in his post-match press conference. "The crowd is exceptional, and wherever I'm playing now I've got my own sets of fans. They talk about it in football having a 12th man, and it's even more important for a player up on the stage. It's only you who can bring the performance out. Sometimes when things aren't going well a couple of cheers from the crowd can gee you right up and that's what happened tonight, I raised off the crowd."

"I'm so happy to get through the the group of death, and, who knows how far I can go," he added. "With this fan base behind me, we can only go up, and that's where we're going."

Given Bunting's immense popularity with darts fans, not just in attendance but across social media, there have also been growing calls for the former Lakeside champion to make a Premier League Darts return in 2025. "Of course I'd love to back in that," says Bunting, having finished 8th in the 2015 edition and featured as a challenger back in 2020. "I won the Masters, I'm in the top 8 in the world, I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm confident, I believe in my ability, I've got a lot more tournaments to go before they announce that and yeah, it's on people's lips but it's down to me. Obviously, the fanbase is there, the walk-on is great, but I'm saying nothing until they tell me 'you're in the Premier League.'"

As mentioned, in the last 16, Gary Anderson awaits for Bunting. Although Ryan Joyce recently said he believes players like Anderson and Michael van Gerwen are losing their fear factor, Bunting isn't so sure. "I wouldn't say so. The fear factor is still there, definitely. You know what they can do and they probably do it more than other players," Bunting explains. "But I'm dangerous and hopefully they think there is a fear factor around me, so they can worry about me instead!"