‘It annoys me people pick up on that’ – Stephen Bunting hits back over claims of ‘weird’ behaviour with Luke Littler
STEPHEN BUNTING has hit back at critics of his so-called "weird" behaviour when playing Luke Littler.
Fan-favourite Bunting, 39, faced off against teen sensation Littler during the World Darts Championship.
The Bullet was outclassed by the Nuke in a 6-1 thrashing in the semi-finals.
However, Bunting got his revenge at the Dutch Darts Masters as he beat Littler 7-6 in the semi-finals.
But the Liverpool-supporting darts ace has been criticised by rivals for his "weird behaviour" when playing Littler after he was seen fist-bumping him several times during their clash at Alexandra Palace.
Pal Dave Chisnall had remarked: "I’m not one for gamesmanship and you won’t hear me slagging folk off, but I did think the fist bumps after every set was a bit weird."
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In response, Bunting told : "He's a 17-year-old lad who's got the world at his feet, and he's still learning the game.
"I'm very respectful for what he's doing for our game and I hope he continues for a lot of years, because he's a lot more money to our sport.
"On another note, I've known him personally since he was a little kid."
Despite the criticism, Bunting is choosing to bite the bullet and see it as a positive thing that people are talking more about a fist-bump than his performance.
He continued: "It does annoy me a bit that people pick up upon that sort of thing, that shows how well I’m playing, that they have got to pick up on a fist-bump rather than a bad performance."
Bunting has been in electric form of late, despite losing to Rob Cross in the Dutch Masters final last night.
And he has had a legion of support backing him up.
He said of the support: "The fans are a massive part of what we do and getting them involved, the Bunting mental chants, Walking in a Bunting Wonderland, it really does help when you're up on that stage on your own.
"It can be such a lonely place, but they get me through so many games."
The next event on the darts calendar is the Winmau World Masters being held in Milton Keynes.
World No.5 Bunting won the title last year by beating Michael van Gerwen 11-7 in the final and will face a qualifying opponent in the opening round this year.
Littler, now World No.2, will similarly face a qualifier in the opening round.
The winner will pocket £100,000 in prize money.