Stephen Bunting wants to become a double world champion
But still has time for Family Guy...
Thursday 18 December 2014 09:19, UK
Stephen Bunting is aiming for a historic win at the World Darts Championship that “people would talk about for years to come”.
Live World Darts Championship
The reigning Lakeside BDO champion could win consecutive world titles with victory in the PDC tournament at Ally Pally, which is live on Sky Sports Darts from Thursday.
And the ‘Bullet’ knows that beating the likes of Michael van Gerwen to the crown would be a unique achievement.
“If I can do it, it will go down in the history books and people would talk about it for years to come,” he told Sky Sports.
“I’m one of the favourites for the title. I’m coming into this as world champion.
“I thrive off being one of the favourites. Most of the players will know that I won the Lakeside title, they’ll know if I’ve just won a major then I could win this major, too. I’d be the first player to win back-to-back majors in the two different codes. That’s something I’m looking forward to.
“When I first switched over the main aim was to qualify for the (World) Matchplay so to get into every major tournament apart from one, that’s a real achievement. If you look at my form, the bookies have got me as sixth favourite so I’ve not gone under their radar but I’ve definitely gone under some players’ radars.
“I’ve beaten the likes of James Wade and Phil Taylor so I know I’ve got the game to beat the best in the world."
Fighting
Bunting awaits the winner of the preliminary tie between Jermaine Wattimena and Robert Marijanovic in his first match and admits his little-known opponents will pose unique problems.
“It makes it harder not knowing your opponent,” he continued. “I like to look how my opponent reads the game or the different tactics you might need. But I can’t prepare for this because I don’t know who I’ll be playing – one could be fast and one could be slow.
“I’ve got two tough opponents who are fighting it out to see who plays me so I’m gearing up for that match. I don’t know much about them but as long as I play the way I can play, I’ll go in confidently."
If I can do it, it will go down in the history books and people would talk about it for years to come.
Peter Griffin?
The Liverpool thrower has also described the moment his appreciation for Family Guy lookalike Peter Griffin began.
“I was at Lakeside, probably four years ago, in the practice room and someone says I look like the guy from Family Guy. They said I’d get a few more fans if I came out to the Family Guy theme tune!
"He went home that night, put it on a CD for me, and said ‘listen, use this and people will take to you’. So I did it and got a few thousand fans off the back of it!
“We’re talking about using the Family Guy song as the intro to my usual music for my entrance next week. There has been talk that this could possibly happen.”
So would Bunting dedicate a historic win to the cartoon? “Perhaps,” he says. “Who knows…”
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