As of: February 5, 2024, 9:17 p.m
By: Marcel Schwenk
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Darts professional Stephen Bunting has won his first major title at the PDC.
Touching scenes after the final show how much it means to the Englishman.
Milton Keynes – They were images that gave you goosebumps and got under your skin.
In the final of the Cazoo Masters, Stephen Bunting beat long-time darts dominator Michael van Gerwen 11:7, breaking all barriers.
Stephen Bunting wins his first major title and gets emotional afterwards
For Bunting, who switched to the PDC in 2014 as reigning BDO world champion, it was the first TV title in front of an audience at the largest darts association in the world.
He reached the semi-finals several times, also played well at the recently ended World Cup and failed there in the round of 16, but he didn't manage to take the final step - until Sunday evening (February 4th) in Milton Keynes.
Darts professional Stephen Bunting and son Toby pose with the Masters trophy.
© Action Plus / Imago Images
What this triumph meant to him became immediately clear from the TV broadcast.
“The Bullet” could hardly believe his luck, initially let the audience celebrate a little and handed out his darts to spectators.
He then grabbed his head several times in disbelief, sought eye contact with his family, took off his glasses and wiped the first tears from his face
After dad's success: Stephen Bunting's son Toby tears up
His son Toby was very similar, after the final checkout over the double 20 he fell into his mother's arms and was shown again a short time later.
He was also visibly touched and tears were rolling out of his eyes.
A little later he posed on stage with his dad Stephen and the trophy before the Masters champion reflected on his first major success in the winner's interview.
"I am at a loss for words.
Getting my first big win in front of an audience that supported me from the first minute means a lot to me.
It's a great start to the season and shows that training is worth it.
I'm really happy," said the 38-year-old, who is one of the fans' favorites in the PDC circus and is regularly celebrated loudly.
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Bunting highly deserved major champion: victories over Wright, Humphries and van Gerwen
A look at how the weekend went shows how well Bunting's first really big title was deserved.
With the reigning world champion Luke Humphries, Peter Wright, Nathan Aspinall and van Gerwen, he took half of all Premier League players out of the tournament, plus the comeback victory over his friend Ross Smith in round one.
The Liverpool FC fan played an incredible ten high finishes – checkouts with 100 or more points remaining.
In the final duel with “MvG” he had a double rate of 55 percent, the previous 11:1 over Aspinall was the highest semi-final victory in tournament history.
Even after one night, Bunting, who regularly provides the best entertainment on his social media accounts, could hardly believe his luck.
On Monday he posted a photo of himself and the trophy from bed on Instagram and wrote: “It wasn’t a dream.
I honestly woke up every hour and checked whether the trophy was still there.” Obviously it was – and no one will take this milestone away from him.
(masc)