Stephen Bunting is on a quest to become the first player to win back-to-back titles in the Nordic Darts Masters, as the 2026 World Series of Darts returns to the Forum Copenhagen in the Danish capital. The tournament, the third World Series event of the year after stops in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, features eight of the best PDC players clashing against eight Nordic and Baltic representatives.
Bunting, who won the 2025 edition, recalled his run last year: a 6-3 win over Swede Oskar Lukasiak, a 6-3 victory over Jonny Clayton, a 7-5 semi-final win against Nathan Aspinall, and an 8-4 final triumph over Rob Cross. “I have really great memories from last year,” Bunting reflected. “Being in the wonderful city of Copenhagen is always a pleasure. It’s such a beautiful place and to win the title there was a great honour. I played some great matches along the way... It would be fantastic if I can become the first player to retain this title. It’s not just a great event but it’s one of the nicest trophies to win also, so that’s a huge incentive.”
The field in Copenhagen includes Michael van Gerwen, who won the first event in 2021, 2024 champion Gerwyn Price, Luke Littler, Jonny Clayton, James Wade, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, and Bunting. Bunting recently endured another disappointing Premier League Darts campaign but added a second nightly win of 2026 in the final night of the league phase in Sheffield, averaging over 106 to take down Humphries in the final. “Winning any night in the Premier League is always hard,” Bunting stated. “We’re playing the best players in the world, so to win two nights - I’m ecstatic. After a long campaign I can say I really enjoyed being part of it and I’m happy to have finished fifth. It’s given me the confidence to push on now for the rest of the season and beyond.”
In the first round, Bunting faces another Swede, Viktor Tingstrom. “In all honesty I’m not sure what to expect,” the reigning champion said. “I’ve seen a few of his results on the tour and looked at his averages, but I’ll just focus on putting in a top performance and concentrate on my own game.”
