Stephen Bunting is in the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay. Against Gary Anderson, the crowd favorite narrowly misses a 9-darter.
Stephen Bunting dramatically reached the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay. Against Gary Anderson, “The Bullet” won 12:10 in legs.
At a score of 11:10, Bunting showed nerves of steel and checked out 112 points to win the match. Because two legs difference are needed for the win at the World Matchplay, it went into overtime at a score of 10:10, where Bunting proved to have the better nerves.
World Matchplay: Bunting narrowly misses 9-darter
Against his bogey opponent (previously only two wins from nine duels), “The Bullet” almost threw a 9-darter. At a score of 8:6, Bunting threw eight perfect darts but placed the last dart just below the double 12 and missed the rare feat.
Bunting played with a slightly higher three-dart average of 92.71 points, Anderson averaged 91.70 points. Both players struggled with the checkout rate, Bunting only hit 12 of 43 attempts at the double, “The Flying Scotsman” only landed ten of 39 attempts.
“The Bullet” to face Clayton
In the quarter-finals, Bunting will face Jonny Clayton, who won 11:8 in legs against Mike De Decker.
In the first game of the evening, Gian van Veen prevailed in the all-Dutch duel against Danny Noppert (11:5).
Van Veen will face James Wade in the quarter-finals, who won against Wessel Nijman with 11:5 in legs.