Stephen Bunting stormed into the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship with a thumping 4-0 victory over Luke Woodhouse at Alexandra Palace on Monday night.
Brimming with confidence, the Bullet also sent a warning to Luke Littler insisting he wants to go all the way this year.
The eighth seed needed just 35 minutes to complete his whitewash, his first of this year’s tournament.
The victory marks a significant improvement in form for Bunting, who had already lost sets to Kai Gotthardt and Madars Razma in previous rounds.
Stephen Bunting has high hopes of winning the Worlds
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Woodhouse struggled throughout the competition, only managing to win three rounds while Bunting dominated from the start.
Bunting’s performance was highlighted by his outstanding score, hitting six maximum 180s compared to Woodhouse’s solo effort.
Despite his dominance, Bunting had to wait until the opening game of the second set to score his first maximum of the match.
Speaking after his victory, Bunting expressed confidence in the potential success of the tournament, telling Sky Sports: “We can do it, we really can.”
The Alexandra Palace crowd favorite admitted his pre-match nerves, saying: “It’s weird because in the training room earlier and all day I felt so nervous.
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Luke Littler is the favorite of many to win the World Championship
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“I don’t want to let these guys down.”
He highlighted the importance of crowd support, comparing it to his beloved Liverpool FC: “At Anfield we always say it’s like the 12th man with the crowd, here it’s no different.”
“When we’re on this stage it’s a very, very lonely place and when things aren’t going well it’s so difficult and we need you 100% behind us,” he added .
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Bunting’s victory sets the stage for an intriguing New Year’s quarter-final clash with two-time world champion Peter Wright.
Wright comes into the match on the back of one of the most remarkable results of the tournament, having eliminated defending champion Luke Humphries with a 4-1 victory.
Ahead of the quarter-final, Bunting expressed his respect for Wright: “I expect Peter Wright, who was there yesterday against Luke, to appear. What a win for Peter, awesome.
“I have Peter Wright now, I have a day off. I’m going to make sure I’m 100 percent ready for this match,” Bunting added.
