Stephen Bunting hits out at online abuse of son Toby and ‘many negativ | Other | Sport
Stephen Bunting has hit out at the abuse directed at son, Toby, following his World Darts Championship exit. The Liverpool-born Professional Darts Corporation star rued not ‘finding his true scoring game’ after he was dumped out of the prestigious tournament in the third round.
The Bullet had overcame Sebastian Bialecki and Nitin Kumar to score at least £35,000 of the record-breaking £5million prize pool. However, the fourth seed was dumped out in round three by James Hurrell in an Alexandra Palace classic, following the restart after the Christmas break.
Bunting had been on course to meet reigning champions Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler in the semi-final but couldn’t beat his underdog opponent.
In light of his third round exit, he took to social media thanking fans for their support and took aim at the trolls, who have targeted his 13-year-old son.
In a statement, he wrote: “Hi guys. Sorry I’ve had a few days away from my socials but I just needed a small bit of time after my game to recover and rest.
“Losing any game is never easy, but losing in the world championships always hurts more. Massive congratulations to James Hurrell who played a fantastic match and I wish him all the very best for the rest of the tournament. I tried my best and although some of my finishing was on point I just couldn’t find my true scoring game but that’s darts for you.
“I wanted to come on and say thank you to all the fans and the support which has been very overwhelming from you guys. Not only in the venue for the worlds but all over my socials with messages of support and love. You guys really are my inspiration and you help to pick me up whilst I’m down in any situation.
“Your (sic) a massive reason why I keep trying to give 110% in every aspect of what I do whether that’s playing on the stage or doing any type of my media work. There have been many negative comments but the positive far outweighs them and deafens the noise they try to make. xxx
“I want to thank my family who also put a lot of commitment in behind the scenes, not really seeing me as much as I would like and I’ve found that the most difficult this year but they know I do all this for them.
“I love my family so much and they give me massive motivation to continue this journey. I still believe I have a lot to give darts over the rest of my career and I want to make them forever proud. They see the negative comments and do their best to make sure I don’t see them and even Toby has had some hate from some of the trolls online which really is hurtful for us as a family. Toby is one of the nicest kids you could wish to meet and I’ll be doing a lot more social stuff with him this coming year xxxxx
“I want to thank my management and sponsors for another great season. Your support means the world to me and you guys make me doing what I do worthwhile, enjoyable and easy to do xx. Lastly I wanted to wish you all a happy new year and hope you all have a wonderful 2026. Let’s go bunting mental into 2026 and I love you all. Bullet XXXXX”
