WADE: “THE DEVIL IS ON HIS SHOULDER”
29/03/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Aaron Nijjar
JAMES WADE has weighed in on Stephen Bunting’s tough start to the Premier League season.
‘The Bullet’ has yet to secure a victory after eight weeks of the competition, leaving him languishing at the bottom of the table.
10-time major winner Wade acknowledged that even the best players can find the Premier League a challenging environment.
He told talkSPORT: “It wouldn’t be the first time we have seen great players enter the Premier League and struggle, then it having a knock-on effect on their rankings later on afterwards.
“I can’t believe it either. I would say probably the first two to three weeks it might have been unfortunate.
“Now he’s made himself too aware that he has not won a game. The only reason why he has not won a game is not because of his ability.”
World No. 11 Wade suggested that the mental burden of his winless streak is affecting Bunting’s performances on stage.
He added: “The Devil is on his shoulder. And the longer he goes without winning one, the harder it is.
“He might be at a point now in the Premier League where he stops worrying about it so much and just lets it happen.”
Former Masters champion Bunting suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat to Luke Littler on Thursday night, despite averaging 102.15 – the highest-ever Premier League match average recorded by a player failing to win a leg.
Despite his struggles, Bunting has averaged over 100 in four of his eight Premier League matches, showing his ability to compete at a high level.
Bunting recorded the highest checkout on Night Six of the competition when he hit the Big Fish and averaged over 102 against Gerwyn Price.
But the 39-year-old still lost 6-4 to Price who failed to average a ton in the match.
Outside of the major the Liverpudlian has won a world series title this year and reached the semi-finals of the world championships.
Bunting returns to action next Thursday at the Premier League in Berlin on Night Nine when he faces Nathan Aspinall.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
