Luke Littler Sends Six-Word Message to Stephen Bunting After Ending Premier League Darts Drought
Luke Littler had a cheeky reminder for Stephen Bunting following the latter’s dramatic turnaround in the Premier League Darts.
Bunting ended a painful losing streak by winning Night Nine of the competition in Berlin, clinching his first Premier League victory since 2015. Entering the night at the bottom of the table with zero points and on a 12-match losing run, Bunting risked matching Peter Wright’s record of 13 consecutive defeats.
But the 39-year-old turned his fortunes around, defeating Nathan Aspinall 6–2 in the quarter-finals and then Luke Humphries by the same scoreline in the semis. In the final, Bunting edged past Gerwyn Price 6–5 to complete a stunning redemption story.
Littler, who had whitewashed Bunting 6–0 just a week earlier, offered advice at the time that proved prophetic. After Bunting’s breakthrough win, Littler took to Instagram, sharing a photo of Bunting celebrating with the caption:
“What did I say last week?” followed by a winking emoji.
Following their match in Newcastle, Littler had spoken with confidence about Bunting’s potential comeback:
“Obviously, Steve’s struggling at the minute. Once he gets that first win, I’m sure he’ll win quite a few in the Premier League. I think he’s just been putting too much pressure on himself.”
He added:
“If I was Stephen now, I’d say: relax, just win that first game—and once that happens, I think he could win a night.”
Bunting later confirmed how meaningful the win was in an emotional interview with Sky Sports:
“After that first win, I was just relieved to get off zero points. I’ve been giving 110% every week. There were moments I thought I might finish with nothing. To win a night—it’s such a special feeling.”
