Emotional Stephen Bunting on what made him well up in daunting Premier League return
The Bullet has given it his all as he finished up his PL campaign in Sheffield
Proud Stephen Bunting reckons his daunting Premier League return has been emotional.
The Bullet ends his campaign in Sheffield against Luke Littler battling to avoid finishing bottom of the darts table.
After a decade out of the showpiece tournament, Bunting struggled in the early weeks and was left in a hopeless position in terms of making the play-offs by the halfway mark. But he's fought to get points and wins on the board during the second-half of the campaign and said: 'There have been massive positives and it was always going to be difficult going back into the Premier League after 10 years and then playing in the venues that we're not used to playing at week in and week out.
'There's a lot more scrutiny and a lot more eyes on the Premier League with the media. Your performances are analysed a lot more so that was pretty nerve-wracking for the first few and then doing the walk on in front of that many fans was always going to be a little daunting. It's been quite emotional, the first four or five in particular. It took me a while to settle. That was a bit difficult to deal with at the start."
Speaking to www.razed.com, Bunting continued: "Having not been in the Premier League for that long, you don't realise how loved you are in the big venues where everyone is singing your walk on song back to you. It brought on the emotion being alongside my family and feeling the love from the fans welled me up. It's special and you need those fans behind you and they're a big part of the game. Long may it continue.
'I think I've performed really well to be honest. You look at the averages and I'm in the top four for the Premier League. The only thing I have been disappointed in more than anything is the double percentage which I am down at the bottom. It's why I am down at the bottom. For the 180s, I haven't played as many legs as the others because I've not made it through the first round often. The experience in playing at those venues again is special and I've loved playing in it.'
Wayne Mardle has praised Bunting's mental toughness for sticking with it and said: 'I believe Stephen has shown more strength mentally than any other player in the Premier League. After losing for eight weeks running it would have been so easy to have been beaten and just roll over and think do you know what I have had enough of this.
'We've seen it from other players in the past that think I don't care anymore, I no longer want to play. We have not had that for a millisecond from Stephen. When this campaign does end for him, I hope he looks back not with fondness but thinks do you know what, that was a good effort. I tried as hard as I could for the duration. Credit to him.'
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