The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsStephen Bunting
Bunting’s switch from the BDO to the PDC has been a solid one, and as the Englishman nears the end of his second year on the PDC, Bunting might have been hoping for a little more. He was selected for last year’s Premier League and given invites to World Series events, and has just broken into the World’s top sixteen, which is a more than solid start to life in the PDC.
When I say he would have been hoping for a little more, I meant in terms of his performances on TV this year. After a semi-final appearance in the UK Open early on this year, we expected him to kick on and achieve more finishes like these. This has not happened and Bunting has not made it past the second round in a TV ranking major this year after the UK Open. This may put his Premier League place in jeopardy, and has not made in into the Grand Slam of Darts this year.
Or perhaps I am being a little too harsh. Making the top sixteen in your first two years is a good achievement, but after this year is up, Bunting will be under more pressure to defend money won in the first two years. Whether this will affect his performances, only time will tell. In my opinion, Bunting must reach at the very least the quarter-finals of the three TV events remaining that he will be taking part in, the World Series finals, Players Championships finals and the World Championship. If he does that, then he is in with a shout of making the cut for the 2016 Premier League.
