STEPHEN BUNTING hit a Premier League nine-dart finish – in practice.
The Bullet, 39, has struggled since his return to the invitational eight-man tournament this year.
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In fact, he failed to pick up a single win in any of the first eight nights of the 2025 Premier League.
But he ended that nightmare run and avoided a record streak by beating Nathan Aspinall in the first quarter-final on Night Nine in Berlin.
The St Helens hero then backed that up by defeating world No1 Luke Humphries in the semi-final.
He rounded off the night by coming from 5-4 down to beat Gerwyn Price in the final and pick up the trophy for the night.
And it was destined to be a successful night at the oche for Bunting after his perfect practice session.
In behind-the-scenes footage captured by the Sky Sports cameras, the two-time World Championship semi-finalist went through the motions in the practice room with his earphones in.
And he managed to nail the perfect leg while warming up.
Bunting hit a 180 maximum and pointed his finger in the air in a muted celebration.
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He backed that up with another T20, T20, T20 combo – and again pointed in delight while sporting a beaming smile.
And he closed out the nine-darter in style with T20, T19 and D12 before spreading his arms out wide and chuckling to himself.
Sky Sports Darts’ Wayne Mardle was loving the backstage drama.
He said: “Watch how smooth those darts are. Just watch. The fluency, there’s no jerking, no throwing his body, no nothing.”
Mardle laughed: “In eight weeks, he’s not thrown that well.
“Joking aside, when you are in that practice room, you are just throwing, there’s no concern, there’s no worry, there’s no nothing.
“All you are doing is throwing.
“And there you go, there’s the 57… eyyy!
“Milk it, Stephen, milk it.
“Look, it’s a practice room – they get hit on a weekly basis by the guys, but it’s doing up here.”
Luke Littler suffered a shock quarter-final exit as he was thrashed 6-2 by Chris Dobey.
Michael van Gerwen, meanwhile, had to pull out of the night at the 11th hour due to a shoulder injury.
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