Stephen Bunting stormed to Night Four glory in Belfast, while Josh Rock thrilled the home crowd with a sensational nine-darter at the SSE Arena.
Winless after three weeks, Bunting produced three superb displays to defeat Luke Humphries, Jonny Clayton and Gian van Veen and secure his first nightly win of the season.
The St Helens star averaged 106.63 in a 6-4 win over Humphries, landing 75% of his doubles, before whitewashing Clayton with another ton-plus average. In the final, Bunting raced 2-0 ahead against Van Veen and capitalised on missed doubles to lead 4-1, sealing victory with a clinical 13-darter.
“I’m overjoyed to be honest, this has got to rank up there with one of the best wins of my career,” said Bunting.
“I still believe I’m one of the best players in the world and deserve to be in this Premier League, this goes a long way to say why I should be here.
“The fans in here tonight, wow! These are the nights that I play for.”
Despite defeat, Rock produced the night’s defining moment. Trailing 5-1 to Van Veen, he followed two 180s with a brilliant 141 finish to ignite the Belfast crowd.
“To hit a nine-darter as nervous as I was… Holy God!” Rock admitted.
“Those golden darts will be in my cabinet forever, knowing that I’ve hit a nine-darter in front of my home crowd.”
Van Veen reached his third final in four weeks, while Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen also featured in a dramatic evening.
The Premier League heads to Cardiff next.
Source: PDC.TV
