It hasn’t been the start to 2025 that Stephen Bunting would’ve imagined – or hoped for – following his run to the World Darts Championship semi-final. The Bullet has been blunted and after five nights of action in the Premier League, he remains at the bottom of the standings without a point to his name. When the line-up for the 2025 Premier League was announced, Bunting’s inclusion wasn’t one that raised any eyebrows.
Instead, it was Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall getting the call-up that caused the most controversy, with the pair having endured a difficult 2024 on the whole. But over a quarter of the way into this year’s edition, the much-maligned pair have already silenced their doubters. Price waltzed his way to victory on night three in Dublin, whereas Aspinall has reached two weekly finals, most recently losing to Luke Littler this week in Brighton.
Bunting, meanwhile, remains winless and pointless, with qualification for the play-offs already looking like a tall order for the Liverpudlian. The 39-year-old has been unlucky at times. During a recent quarter-final meeting with Littler in Exeter, Bunting did post an impressive 104 average, having hit six 180s. The only issue was his teenage opponent averaged 112 and registered 10 maximums of his own.
He hasn’t been playing badly, but the harsh reality is that Bunting just hasn’t been playing well enough to win matches. And if his form on the Premier League stage doesn’t improve, the arrowsmith could risk history repeating itself.
Bunting endured an arduous exile from the Premier League, having made his debut in the competition in 2015, with the former BDO World Championship winner forced to wait a decade before he was named in the line-up again. His performance in the 2015 edition was a similarly drab one, as he managed just three wins across the 15 weeks.
Things were meant to be different for Bunting this time around, given he’d lifted his first PDC major title at the Masters early on in 2024 – an achievement many believed would help him get over his big-TV stage hoodoo. An eye-catching run to the last four of the Worlds only strengthened his reputation, with suggestions heading into this year’s Premier League that Bunting could even challenge the two Lukes for the title.
However, as spring rolls around and the nights begin to get lighter, Bunting finds himself in a dark place. If he fails to click into gear between now and week 16, Bunting could risk being left in the Premier League wilderness once again.
