Stephen Bunting stunned in New Zealand Darts Masters as Josh Rock survives scare in Auckland

STEPHEN BUNTING suffered a shock defeat to ANZ Premier League runner-up Raymond Smith in the opening round of the New Zealand Darts Masters in Auckland.

Smith only missed one dart at double in a clinical display to condemn The Bullet to a second World Series opening round loss this year.

He’ll take on fellow Aussie Adam Leek in the quarter-final tomorrow after his deciding leg victory over Ross Smith.

Both Leek and Smudger were making their World Series debut and World No.16 Smith missed five match darts to dispel the Aussie No.2 who had the Kiwi crowd on side.

Gian van Veen was able to put his luggage nightmares behind him with a convincing victory over Jonny Tata.

The No.1 seed averaged over 97 in a dominant 6-1 win but was nearly without his darts and shirt after his suitcase was stranded in Paris whilst making the trip Down Under.

He will face Jonny Clayton in tomorrow’s quarter-final who survived a huge scare against Haupai Puha.

The Ferret was forced all the way to a deciding leg by Puha with the Welsh No.2 managing a mere 86.24 average in a below par display.

Josh Rock was made to work for an uncomfortable victory against Aussie legend Simon Whitlock as the 25-year-old looked to put his US Darts Masters disappointment behind him.

Rocky was averaging over 105 in the early parts of the match before errors at the back end of legs allowed The Wizard back in.

Whitlock missed multiple darts to force a deciding leg which allowed Northern Ireland’s World Cup winner to fall over the line.

He’ll take on James Wade in the final eight tomorrow who breezed through his opener.

The Machine whitewashed 26-year-old Kayden Milne despite a sub-90 average, and the 11-time TV major winner will look for a first World Series title of his career tomorrow.

Gerwyn Price kicked off the evening with a similarly dominant display against Mark Cleaver.

The newly crowned Welsh No.1 was never in danger against the Kiwi and only dropped one leg en route to booking his spot in the final day of action.

The Iceman will face Australia’s top dart player Damon Heta for a spot in the semi-final tomorrow.

Heta navigated a tricky tie against Ben Robb in a trans-Tasman clash with The Heat recovering from 4-1 down to claim victory, winning five legs on the spin to round the match off.

The final day of action kicks off 1900 local time (0800 BST) with UK viewers able to watch live on ITV4.

Full Results

(1) Gian van Veen 6-1 Jonny Tata

Jonny Clayton 6-5 Haupai Puha

(4) James Wade 6-0 Kayden Milne

Josh Rock 6-4 Simon Whitlock

(2) Gerwyn Price 6-1 Mark Cleaver

Damon Heta 6-4 Ben Robb

(3) Stephen Bunting 2-6 Raymond Smith

Ross Smith 5-6 Adam Leek

Words: Connor Cain

Image: Taylor Lanning