Bunting battles illness and nerves to keep Australian Masters hopes alive

STEPHEN BUNTING admits being under the weather left him struggling to hit his stride at the Australian Masters.

The world No9 beat Mal Cuming 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals in Wollongong but was far from his best, averaging 89.01 and converting just six of 23 darts at double.

Bunting, 41, was desperate to bounce back after crashing out in the opening round of last week’s New Zealand Masters, where he suffered a 6-2 defeat to Raymond Smith.

The St Helens thrower revealed a combination of illness and nerves made life difficult in Wollongong.

He told Darts Downunder: “I needed a lot of grit in that game. I felt like I started well. It was just, for whatever reason, I can’t push myself forward.

“Whether that be a little tiny bit of a cold that I have got. The nerves from Auckland were here again.

“I played well in Auckland and lost. So, there was a lot of pressure on me here today and I didn’t want to lose.

“The performance of Brody Klinge in the first game put everyone on notice in the practice room.

“How can you follow that because it was such a fantastic game? It’s the unknown. We don’t follow as much as we should down here.

“But we all know what they can do. They are all fantastic players in their own right and they are here on merit.

“It was always going to be difficult, but that is task one done. Now it is time for task two, task three and task four.”

Bunting is still searching for his first title of the season but boasts a strong record on the World Series circuit.

But the Liverpudlian topped the Order of Merit last year after winning the Bahrain Masters and Nordic Darts Masters, while also reaching a further two finals.

Bunting returns to action on Friday morning and will face James Wade for place in the semi-final at the WIN Entertainment Centre.

Words: Aaron Nijjar