Bunting demands “punishments” for hecklers after Littler was booed in Amsterdam

STEPHEN BUNTING has called for “punishments” to be introduced to tackle heckling darts crowds.

World No1 Luke Littler was subjected to boos and whistling during his World Series of Darts Finals campaign in Amsterdam.

Littler, 19, later threatened to boycott tournaments in the Netherlands if the hostile reception continued.

Former Masters champion Bunting believes Littler was already “on edge” heading into the tournament as he chased a historic clean sweep after winning the first six major titles of the season.

He told SPORTbible: “I think it’s really hard, isn’t it? Obviously, Luke is the best player in the world. For whatever reason, the crowd got on his back, they didn’t want him to do the [clean sweep].

“He was probably on edge, anyway, going into [the tournament]. I think maybe in Germany, maybe in Belgium, I’ve had it a few times where the crowd has whistled out.

“If you let the crowd know they’re getting to you, it can be ten times worse. It’s a hard one to say, but I don’t like the whistling. I’d rather have someone shouting abuse at me than whistling.

“It’s a horrible noise to hear when you’re trying to concentrate.

“But I understand it’ll keep happening, no matter how much we talk about it.

“Punishments need to be brought in, maybe. To give it some sort of stop. Until that happens, it’ll keep happening.”

Bunting has endured a difficult season, failing to reach a major quarter-final in the opening five events for the first time since 2022.

The Liverpudlian is also still waiting for his first title of the campaign, with his closest run coming at Players Championship 3 when he suffered an 8-1 defeat to Chris Dobey.

But Bunting uses therapy, including hypnotherapy, to help keep himself mentally strong regardless of his form.

He added: “I don’t go down [a negative] path anymore. I always look for the positives in a game.

“I was locking myself away, I was unhappy… I felt like everyone was laughing at me.

“So I went to see a sports psychologist. He trained my brain in a way that I never thought could happen. I’m always walking around with a smile on my face, and that’s one of the reasons why.

“The hypnotism came about four years ago, now. There’s a bucket in your brain that fills up with negative thoughts… now I know how to empty the bucket.”

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning