The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsLast year’s semi-finalist Stephen Bunting crashed out in the first round of the World Grand Prix of Darts at the hands of Mark Webster in Dublin.
With the tournamnet having the unique format of double in, it was vital that his doubles were on point. However, he was uncertain of which double he favoured, constantly swtiching bewteen tops and D16.
‘The Bullet’ started well enough, by taking the opening leg of the game, but soon faltered, allowing his opponent to take the upper hand. An example of Bunting’s falty doubles came in the second leg when he missed three darts at a double before Webster nailed D20 to take the leg. He went on to take the first set 3-1.
Webster then kept up the pressure in the early stages of the second set, and found himself only one leg away from reaching the second round. However, Steven Bunting hit back in fine style to claim the next two legs to keep the match alive.
Unfortunately for him he could not maintain this momentum, as Webster took a firm grip on the game, racing into a 2-0 lead in the final set. The final leg of the match summed proceedings up after Webster took out D20 for a 2-1 win after Bunting had missed a dart at D9, as it slipped into D14.
