‘Very strange’ – Stephen Bunting reveals mind games rival Luke Littler plays behind the scenes
Luke Littler has found new ways of getting in the head of opponents. ahead of their Premier League Darts encounter. The world champion faces another crowd favourite in Stephen Bunting on Night 13 of the competition in Birmingham on Thursday, as the race to make the season-ending play-offs hots up. GettyBunting got the better of Littler in their last encounter[/caption] It will be a first versus last encounter for the pair in their quarter-final clash, with Littler sitting top of the league table on 30 points. Bunting, meanwhile, occupies bottom spot with just one nightly win to his name, but has recent form on his side. The Liverpudlian triumphed over the 18-year-old two weeks ago on Night 11 of the tournament, claiming a 6-2 win on his way to reaching the final at the Rotterdam Ahoy. Littler will no doubt be out for a revenge as a result, having now not won a Premier League night since Night 8 in Newcastle. And Bunting is sure to be on the lookout for some underhand tactics from his opponent in the build-up to their encounter, having claimed the darts prodigy employs the most mind games on the PDC Tour. In an appearance on talkSPORT Breakfast, the ‘Bullet’ revealed Littler’s lack of practice prior to matches throws his rivals off. Bunting said: “I think he’s probably the one with the mind games, to be fair. Although I’m probably the one with the experience. “He’s doing things in the practice room that we’re taught not to do. So, he very rarely picks the darts up in the practice room, very strange. “He’ll be sat on his phone either watching Man United or playing a Formula 1 game on his phone. And I’ll be on the practice board for four hours. “Then he’ll get up, he’ll throw for bull, and then he’ll get on stage and average 110. PDCStephen Bunting triumphed on Night Nine of this season’s Premier League in Berlin[/caption] Luke Littler has previously wound up fans at darts events, and he is no different when it comes to his PDC Tour rivalsGetty “And you’re like: ‘How are you doing that?’ So, it’s incredible.” Bunting’s suggestion of mind games comes just a week after he appeared to use some dark arts of his own towards his younger adversary. The 40-year-old labelled Littler ‘fragile’ ahead of Night 12 of the Premier League in Liverpool, as the ‘Nuke’ was tipped for a hostile reception due to his Manchester United ties. Last year, the avid Red Devils fan was booed by the Merseyside crowd after mocking the Reds for losing 2-0 to Everton, and he was subjected to similar treatment in his latest Premier League outing. Prior to last week’s antics, Bunting said: “I would imagine he’s going to get a few boos from a Liverpool crowd and, with how fragile he is at the minute after his experience in Germany, I don’t think he likes it – but sometimes you can bring it on yourself.” Despite his recent words, Bunting has huge respect for Littler, and even received criticism for being ‘too nice’ during his defeat to the youngster at the World Darts Championship in December. RexBunting has previously praised Littler for raising the profile of darts[/caption] But he will have to put any personal feelings aside in the pair’s next encounter, as he battles to keep his slim Premier League hopes alive. Although not mathematically ruled out of the play-offs, Bunting’s chances of making the top four are hanging by the thread, with just 8 points to his name and only four nights of the league stage left. The darts star heads into his clash with Littler off the back of a shock second-round defeat to Canada’s Matt Campbell at the Austrian Darts Open. Despite his recent results however, Bunting remained optimistic ahead of his return to Premier League action. He told talkSPOR: “For Thursday, I’m playing really well, to be fair. “Obviously, I’ve just come back from Austria. I didn’t have too good of a tournament. But I averaged 105. “The form’s in a great place. And yeah, onwards going to playing Luke Littler now.”
Luke Littler has found new ways of getting in the head of opponents. ahead of their Premier League Darts encounter.
The world champion faces another crowd favourite in Stephen Bunting on Night 13 of the competition in Birmingham on Thursday, as the race to make the season-ending play-offs hots up.
It will be a first versus last encounter for the pair in their quarter-final clash, with Littler sitting top of the league table on 30 points.
Bunting, meanwhile, occupies bottom spot with just one nightly win to his name, but has recent form on his side.
The Liverpudlian triumphed over the 18-year-old two weeks ago on Night 11 of the tournament, claiming a 6-2 win on his way to reaching the final at the Rotterdam Ahoy.
Littler will no doubt be out for a revenge as a result, having now not won a Premier League night since Night 8 in Newcastle.
And Bunting is sure to be on the lookout for some underhand tactics from his opponent in the build-up to their encounter, having claimed the darts prodigy employs the most mind games on the PDC Tour.
In an appearance on talkSPORT Breakfast, the ‘Bullet’ revealed Littler’s lack of practice prior to matches throws his rivals off.
Bunting said: “I think he’s probably the one with the mind games, to be fair. Although I’m probably the one with the experience.
“He’s doing things in the practice room that we’re taught not to do. So, he very rarely picks the darts up in the practice room, very strange.
“He’ll be sat on his phone either watching Man United or playing a Formula 1 game on his phone. And I’ll be on the practice board for four hours.
“Then he’ll get up, he’ll throw for bull, and then he’ll get on stage and average 110.
“And you’re like: ‘How are you doing that?’ So, it’s incredible.”
Bunting’s suggestion of mind games comes just a week after he appeared to use some dark arts of his own towards his younger adversary.
The 40-year-old labelled Littler ‘fragile’ ahead of Night 12 of the Premier League in Liverpool, as the ‘Nuke’ was tipped for a hostile reception due to his Manchester United ties.
Last year, the avid Red Devils fan was booed by the Merseyside crowd after mocking the Reds for losing 2-0 to Everton, and he was subjected to similar treatment in his latest Premier League outing.
Prior to last week’s antics, Bunting said: “I would imagine he’s going to get a few boos from a Liverpool crowd and, with how fragile he is at the minute after his experience in Germany, I don’t think he likes it – but sometimes you can bring it on yourself.”
Despite his recent words, Bunting has huge respect for Littler, and even received criticism for being ‘too nice’ during his defeat to the youngster at the World Darts Championship in December.
But he will have to put any personal feelings aside in the pair’s next encounter, as he battles to keep his slim Premier League hopes alive.
Although not mathematically ruled out of the play-offs, Bunting’s chances of making the top four are hanging by the thread, with just 8 points to his name and only four nights of the league stage left.
The darts star heads into his clash with Littler off the back of a shock second-round defeat to Canada’s Matt Campbell at the Austrian Darts Open.
Despite his recent results however, Bunting remained optimistic ahead of his return to Premier League action.
He told talkSPOR: “For Thursday, I’m playing really well, to be fair.
“Obviously, I’ve just come back from Austria. I didn’t have too good of a tournament. But I averaged 105.
“The form’s in a great place. And yeah, onwards going to playing Luke Littler now.”
