Stephen Bunting ended his 2026 Premier League Darts campaign with one of his best nights of the season, defeating Luke Humphries 6-3 in the final in Sheffield to claim the last weekly title of the regular league phase. The Bullet averaged 106.37 in a high-quality final at the Utilita Arena, with Humphries also above the ton mark at 102.23, but Bunting’s scoring bursts and finishing power proved decisive.
The victory secured Bunting fifth place in the final table, even though his late surge came too late to force his way into Finals Night at the O2. For Humphries, defeat in the final did not undo the bigger picture of the evening. His semi-final win over Luke Littler secured third place in the final standings, meaning the reigning Premier League champion will face Jonny Clayton in London, while Littler takes on Gerwyn Price.
Bunting’s route to the final began with a 6-3 win over Clayton in the opening quarter-final. Clayton averaged 104.90, hit back with a 101 finish and had a burst of back-to-back maximums in leg four, but Bunting stayed composed and punished key openings, including a 102 checkout in leg five before closing the match on D12. His semi-final win over Price was even more eye-catching. Price started sharply, opening with a 180 and moving 2-0 ahead, but Bunting worked his way into the contest before taking control with a superb run of finishing. A 161 checkout gave him the lead for the first time, a 100 finish moved him to the brink, and a 104 checkout on D18 sealed a 6-3 victory and completed a hat-trick of ton-plus finishes. That semi-final also had one of the night’s more unusual moments when a whistler interrupted play while Bunting was throwing. Price immediately paused the match, pointed out the spectator to security, and ensured they were removed before play continued.
Humphries reached the final through two very different matches. First, he edged Michael van Gerwen 6-5 in the last quarter-final of the night, surviving a tense decider after Van Gerwen wired the bull for a 164 checkout. Humphries stepped in on D16 to win it, keeping his strong late-season run alive and ending Van Gerwen’s Premier League campaign with another narrow defeat. He then produced one of his most dominant performances of the campaign against Littler. After dropping the opening leg, Humphries reeled off six in a row to win 6-1, hitting four 180s and closing the match with an 87 checkout on D9. The victory sent him into a fourth consecutive weekly final and, more importantly, secured third place in the final league table.
In the final, Bunting made the stronger start and immediately threatened something special. He opened the first leg with four perfect darts, later added a second maximum to leave 58, and survived a scare when Humphries wired the bull for a 161 checkout. Bunting returned on D10 to hold throw. The break followed quickly as a 41 finish on D16 moved Bunting 2-0 ahead, before a clinical 78 checkout on tops made it 3-0. Humphries finally got on the board with a 52 finish, but Bunting’s scoring continued to set the tone. His fifth maximum of the final pushed his average towards 115, and although he missed darts at D12 and D6, he was allowed back to restore a 4-1 lead. The best Humphries moment came in leg six when, with the Sheffield crowd aiming anti-Leeds United chants in his direction, he produced a brilliant 132 checkout on the bullseye, earning a fist bump of respect from Bunting as he cut the gap to 4-2. Bunting responded with a clean two-dart 80 finish on D10 to move 5-2 ahead. Humphries stayed alive on D8 after Bunting made a mess of 90, but the comeback never truly gathered pace. In the ninth leg, Bunting again threatened a perfect finish to his Premier League season, opening with six treble 20s before dart seven ended the nine-dart bid. He still returned to clean up 41 on D8, sealing a 6-3 win and ending his campaign with a second nightly title.
