Stephen Bunting was reduced to tears in his post-match press conference following his second round victory at the World Darts Championship.
Bunting secured his spot in the next round of the World Darts Championship after beating India's Nitin Kumar on Saturday.
He beat Kumar 3-0 and lost just two legs in a stunning performance.
Bunting averaged an impressive 94.11 and registered checkouts of 118, 107 and 132 on the bullseye with a 53 per cent checkout success.
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His victory over Kumar comes just days after he beat Sebastian Bialecki in the first round.
He beat Poland's Bialecki 3-2 and called himself 'the People's Champion' in the aftermath of his gruelling win at Ally Pally.
"I'm Stephen Bunting. I'm the People's Champion," he said. "I believe I've got the best fan base in that. I've got the best social media in darts."
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His comment drew plenty of negative social media reaction, with many darts fans turning on him.
And Bunting felt the backlash in the build-up to his clash against Kumar.
Speaking in his post-match press conference after his latest win of the competition, the 40-year-old broke down in tears when asked about the negative reaction he had received.
"I look at social media and I’ve had some stick. I made a comment in in the media saying I was the people’s champion but that was literally a comment that was from what Sky have said, what the PDC have said, it wasn’t me saying I’m the people’s champion," he said.
"I was just talking about what was said and yeah I’ve had a lot of stick about that. Listen, I’m not the people’s champion, I turn up I’ll try my best to win any game, I’ll give 110%.
"The fans have been unbelievable, I feel a presence. I feel the support online, but sometimes you can look too much at social media and yeah, there’s been quite a few negatives.
"I’ve had quite a few emails as well but I need to rise above that.
"People online are fickle. There’s a lot of negativity."
The world No.4 added: "You see the crowd in there tonight, they’re proper dart fans. They know what I’m about.
"I like to give back to the fans through my YouTube, TikTok and everything I do. If if they see me in a pub or they see me in Tesco or a shopping centre or whatever, I’ll always give time to the fans.
"They’re so important and they’ve been a massive part of my career so far.
"I never ever shy away from my fans and I I’ll stand by it. I still think I’ve got the biggest fan base in darts. I’m lucky and you saw it tonight."
Topics: Darts, World Darts Championship
Nasir Jabbar