World number nine Stephen Bunting has heaped praise on Beau Greaves after her historic victory at Players Championship 11 in Milton Keynes, warning that the darting world should be worried. Greaves defeated Michael Smith 8-7 in the final, having previously beaten former world champions Rob Cross and Gary Anderson, becoming the first woman to win a PDC ranking title.
“It’s amazing,” Bunting said. “It was a massive achievement to win a tour card anyway, and she absolutely smashed it. She’s a huge talent. She even said herself she didn’t think she was going to win ProTours, and she’s proved herself so far.” The 37-year-old added: “I think she’ll only go from strength to strength now with that confidence. We’re all in trouble, to be honest—and hopefully I don’t draw her in too many first rounds.”
Bunting also backed Greaves to win a major title in the future. “Of course, yeah. She’s got that ceiling. She can average over 100, she’s very dangerous. Her scoring’s brilliant and her finishing’s really, really good as well. You saw the 142 she took out against Michael—once the first treble 20 went in, he knew the writing was on the wall. She’s got everything she needs: composure, scoring, finishing. To win like that, yeah—the world’s her oyster.”
Meanwhile, Bunting is focused on his own Premier League campaign, with Night 13 in Aberdeen next. Sitting seven points behind Michael van Gerwen in fourth, he knows he needs to win at least two of the remaining four nights. “I think there are four nights left and I need to win a minimum of two, so I’ve set my sights really high,” he said. “I want to finish on a bit of a pattern, to be honest, and hopefully I can start here in Aberdeen.” He faces Gerwyn Price in a repeat of their match in Scotland last year, which Bunting won. “I know what I need to do. I played Gerwyn Price here last year and beat him, so yeah, let’s start with that game. Don’t look too far forward—it’s all eyes on Price. Hopefully I can produce the goods and get through and have a really good night.”
Off the oche, Bunting has been enjoying football and horse racing. He joined Coventry City’s promotion celebrations after their 3-1 win over Wrexham, meeting Frank Lampard and Tom Grennan. He also revealed he has bought a horse with world number one Luke Littler and former Liverpool striker Michael Owen, named after Bunting. “Really excited about the horse. I think its first run will be on 30th May—I’ll have to speak to Hugo Palmer—but yeah, we’re all really excited. He’s said really good things about it, so hopefully we’ll get a win.”
