Stephen Bunting crashes out of World Darts Championship as World No. 4 becomes biggest seed eliminated

Stephen Bunting’s run at this year’s World Darts Championship has come to an end.

The 40-year-old, seeded fourth, was sent packing by James Hurrell, who prevailed 4-3 in their third-round encounter.

Getty

Bunting’s exit meant he is now the highest seed to have been eliminated from this iteration of the World Championship.

The honour previously belonged to No. 6 seed Danny Noppert, who was bundled out by debutant Justin Hood in the second round.

In total, six of the top 16 seeds have now been knocked out, in a tournament full of shocks so far.

Hurrell performed better than Bunting on the night, averaging 98.48, while ‘The Bullet’ produced an average of 91.43.

The pair both hit six 180s in their third-round match along with multiple 100+ checkouts each at Alexandra Palace.

In the sixth set, Hurrell looked to be heading to victory as he threw for the match, with the legs locked at 2-2.

But Bunting fought back and checked out 100 to keep himself in the game and take it to a seventh set.

The World No.4 then won the opening leg of the deciding set and looked to have the momentum behind him.

But Hurrell didn’t give up, winning his first leg and then going on to break Bunting and take a crucial 2-1 lead.

And that set him up to progress through to the fourth round, checking out 100 to continue his dream run.

The 41-year-old, who only made his World Championship debut last year, will take on either Martin Schindler or Ryan Searle in the next round, with their match scheduled for Sunday.

Shock early exit

Bunting reached the semi-finals at Ally Pally last year and was aiming to go far in the tournament again this time around.

But it wasn’t to be, as Hurrell pulled off a shock dump him out at his earliest stage since 2022.

Before his defeat to eventual champion Luke Littler in the semis last year, he reached the fourth round in 2024.

A loss to Michael van Gerwen knocked him out then, with a quarter-final exit to Michael Smith coming a year earlier.

The last time he was eliminated earlier than the third round was three years ago against Ross Smith in his second match.

Getty

‘Biggest win of my career’

Speaking to talkSPORT after dumping Bunting out of the World Championship, Hurrell said: “100 per cent, biggest win of my career.

“I was really confident going into the game, the way I was scoring, my life at home, it’s all clicking.

“I knew if I scored with him, I’d get to him and it did.”

He added: “I feel more comfortable on this stage [at Ally Pally] than I did at Lakeside.

“You’ve got the crowd, they’re loud…this stage is amazing.

“If I sort my finishing out, I could beat anyone…I’m not bothered who I play, I know where my game is and I’m confident.”