BUNTING SHOWS CLASS
02/02/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Phil Lanning and Aaron Nijjar
STEPHEN Bunting produced a classy act of sportsmanship as exited the World Masters at the hands of Danny Noppert.
In a dramatic finale, the Bullet called for his massive fanbase to stop getting on the Dutchman’s back as he tried to win a thriller.
With the quarter-final locked at 3-3 in sets and 2-2 in legs, it was a straight shoot out and Noppert first missed darts to win the game, opening the door for Bunting to walk through and claim success.
But then, in a nerve-shredding scene, the Scouser missed his own chance to the despair of his army of supporters.
Desperate to get their man out of trouble, some of them started to boo and jeer as Noppert walked back to the board for another try.
It was at that point the Scouser showed his class. He turned to the offenders and waved them down to stop it, to show order.
It worked. The booing stopped. And Noppert hit his winning shot to claim a fabulous win and move into a semi-final against Luke Humphries.
Bunting had no hesitation and said afterwards about his gesture: “Yeah I should have told them to shout a bit more to be honest! But, no, of course, it’s just a respectful sport.
“We’re both really good friends as well and if he’s got a chance to win the match, I’m happy for him. Unfortunately for me it was against me, but it’s just one of those games and, hopefully, he can go on and win the title now.”
Noppert added his appreciation for Bunting’s grace and quality as he added: “When I was starting at the BDO, he was already No.1 and then I was all learning off Stephen. We are all friends with each other and we like each other.”
Images by Taylor Lanning.
