Bizarre reason why Stephen Bunting stands to the right of the Oche during World Darts Championship
Stephen Bunting has explained why he stands so far to the right of the oche during his darts matches.
World number eight Bunting, 39, is one step away from reaching the final of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship.
On Wednesday night, 'The Bullet' delighted the Ally Pally crowd as he produced a brilliant display to dispatch two-time world champion Peter Wright, who knocked out last year's winner Luke Humphries in the previous round.
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Standing in Bunting's way will be number four seed and tournament favourite Luke Littler, who sealed his place in the final four with a 5-2 win over Nathan Aspinall.
Whenever Bunting is in action, it has always been spotted that the 39-year-old would stand on the far right-hand side of the oche.
This is something Bunting has actually done since he was young, speaking on his YouTube channel, he said: "This come about when I was young. I used to play at home and my dad set the board up on the wall, but it was off-centre. So I was always to the right of the board and it just stuck."
Speaking ahead of Thursday night's semi-final, Bunting said: "I hope that is the nervy one out of the way. The crowd were unbelievable again. Let’s go Bunting Mental.
"I practised with Luke Humphries 3-4 months ago and it has paid off for me, pitting my wits against the best player in the world."
When asked about his clash with Bunting, Littler said: "I felt the best I have in this tournament so far, so hopefully I can regroup and come back again and it can be the same feeling.
"We all know the expectation and it's very different from last year, but tonight I felt the greatest and hopefully I can regroup and feel like I did on that stage tomorrow (Thursday)."
He continued: "I'd probably only say I felt different in the Ryan Meikle game, and then came through against Ian White, obviously the 3-1 lead was crucial against Ian, and then the tough test against Ryan, I think that's what I needed, and then tonight I just settled."
Chris Dobey will take on Michael van Gerwen in the other semi-final, with the final due to take place on Friday night.
Topics: Darts, Luke Littler, Stephen Bunting
Marcus Chan
