Ranked outsider Stephen Bunting did his best to seal victory for the Premier League Darts on Night Four in Belfast as Josh Rock hit a nine-darter and Luke Littler suffered another early dismissal.
Bunting defeated defending champion Luke Humphries and whitewashed Jonny Clayton to set up a final against Gian van Veen.
‘The Bullet’ was in rampant form and he went up to glory in Northern Ireland with a 6-2 success against the Dutchman to go from 0 to 5 points overall.
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Highlights from the final between Stephen Bunting and Van Veen
“Losing seven or eight games on the bounce last year helped me a lot. It gave me a lot of experience in this area,” said Bunting, a two-time World Championship semi-finalist.
“When you play in the Premier League you come up against the best of the best.
“I’m very happy with this win. It’s one of my best wins and it’ll put me up in the rankings. I was a little emotional after the first game, but I stuck it out.
“Every time I step up, I still believe I’m one of the hardest players to beat. People look for their best game and I always seem to lose to a winner. Tonight I’m the winner.
“I’m off social media. I have a great team around me and I don’t see any negativity. I had hypnotherapy this morning.
“I believe I am one of the best players in the world and deserve to be in the Premier League. This is a big way to show that I deserve to be here.”
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‘You need to stop crying on TV!’ – Bunting was emotional as he spoke to Wayne Mardle and Emma Paton after the win in Belfast.
Bunting continued with tears in his eyes. “Before the competition everyone was criticizing me. People were telling me I shouldn’t participate, but I know how hard I work.
“This is the night I play and the crowd pulls me in. I have to juggle my family life. I have a lovely family at home.”
Bunting registered the first whitewash of the 2026 Premier League, defeating league leaders Clayton by another average of 106+ to claim their place in the final against Van Veen.
The Dutchman held his nerve to reach his third Premier League final this year, averaging 105.22 and checking out 160 to beat Gerwyn Price in the final decider.
Dropped to 7th after losing Clayton
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Quarterfinal highlights between Johnny Clayton and Luke Littler
Littler have so far won just one game in the Premier League this year and have fallen to seventh in the standings after being dispatched by Clayton in the quarter-finals.
Clayton won his fourth successive first-round clash with a resounding 6-3 success against the world number one after penalizing just 3/13 in the doubles from the 19-year-old from Warrington.
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Littler made 112 before handing it back to the crowd shortly after being ridiculed in Belfast.
‘The Ferret’ defeated the world champions for the second week in a row, while ‘The Nuke’ was left frustrated by the whistling of the Northern Ireland crowd.
“It’s surprising Littler has won just one game in the Premier League, it just doesn’t click here and there’s not always a reason to,” said former Women’s World Championship semi-finalist Laura Turner. on sky sports.
“He’ll think about it now, but it’s not a panic station, there’s plenty of time.
“Jonny looked really confident. I think his finish was significant again. He didn’t let people go back to the red clay.”
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Clayton hit this brilliant 156 against Littler.
Bunting set up a semi-final against Clayton after securing his first win of the tournament with a stunning performance, beating Humphries 6-4.
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Bunting recorded two bumper finishes in his quarterfinal match against Luke Humphries.
‘The Bullet’ averaged 106.63 to defeat Humphries, who was disappointed by a poor finish.
Price unleashed an unstoppable explosion that rattled three legs off a spin as he dashed the hopes of Michael van Gerwen in a thrilling last leg decider.
The red-hot Price capitalized on his outstanding form at the Players Championship this week to post another 100+ average. He completed a stunning counterattack, taking the final two legs off 22 darts.
Primitive, thrilling and unforgettable! Rock brings perfection
Rock celebrates finishing 9 darts.
Van Veen ignored Rock’s extraordinary nine-darter and powered past Belfast’s home hero to check out more than three tons in a 6-2 win.
The Rock still sit at the bottom of the table and are yet to pick up a point on debut, but the Antrim boy lifted the roof with a perfect eighth leg in front of his adoring fans.
“We know it’s about points, but hitting a nine-darter in front of a home crowd in Belfast… the noise when he hit that double was unbelievable,” Turner said.
“The Nines didn’t win the game, but it was a special moment.”
Rock: Belfast nine-darter dream becomes reality
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‘Your guess is as good as mine!’ – Rock wasn’t sure where his 9-dart finish came from…
Josh Rock won a £30,000 bespoke 18-carat solid gold dart set aboard the Nine Darters.
“My body is overworked. I’m shaking like a leaf. It’s a dream come true,” he said. Sky Sports’ Polly James. “If I were playing in the Premier League, I would love to play the Nine Darters in Belfast.
“I don’t mind losing. To hit a nine-darter in front of a home crowd is a huge achievement in my eyes.
“I don’t care if I never throw a nine-darter again. It’s a dream come true. I can’t explain how it feels.”
Mardle: Nine-darter doesn’t hide his problems.
The Rock are yet to win a game in the Premier League this year.
Sky Sports’ Wayne Mardle said: “The way he played just before that – I was telling him he had no composure! I said ‘everything is going wrong’ and he did!”
“A lot of pros say that hitting two 180 degrees relaxes them, but that’s not true.
“It was incredible to get his composure and do what he did, but he has to play a lot better than that.”
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Watch every Premier League Nine Darters hit from Belfast
What’s happening on Premier League Night Five?
World Cup winners Clayton Price and Gerwin Price will headline next Thursday’s match in Cardiff.
Price and Clayton will be the biggest attractions when the Intrepid Roadshow kicks off in Cardiff, with the pair facing off against Bunting and Van Veen respectively.
Van Gerwen and Humphries will also battle in the evening’s opener at the Utilita Arena. Littler, who hit a nine-darter in the Welsh capital 12 months ago, takes on Rock.
Who will be the winner of this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries is set to defend his title and you can watch it every Thursday until May on Sky Sports. Stream the best sports including darts with NOW.
