Darts star accused of ‘cheating’ and Bunting breaks down after win | Other | Sport
Alexandra Palace is buzzing with Christmas cheer as revellers don their finest fancy dress whilst the PDC World Darts Championship races towards its festive break. The original 128 competitors are being rapidly reduced to merely 32 as the second round approaches its finale, with the last pre-Christmas clashes scheduled for Tuesday evening.
Spectators have already witnessed a banquet of darts excitement featuring 180s and spectacular finishes galore alongside surprising eliminations, unexpected fan favourites and no shortage of heated moments beneath the north London spotlights. Below are the main discussion points from the latest action at Ally Pally.
Cullen seethes after early departure
Manchester United fan and world No. 32 Joe Cullen saw red following his second-round elimination at the hands of methodical thrower Mensur Suljovic.
The Austrian, dubbed ‘The Gentle’, managed a meagre 81.95 average whilst converting fewer than 25 per cent of his doubles attempts, yet still advanced to round three with a 3-1 triumph.
Bradford native Cullen claimed the opening set but subsequently collapsed, surrendering the next three sets including squandering a 2-1 advantage in the fourth. The duo appeared to exchange words on stage before Cullen, whose walkout song is Oasis anthem “Don’t Look Back in Anger”, took to X to angrily express his frustration with his rival’s deliberate approach.
“If that’s darts, I don’t want no part of it,” he declared. “Always liked Mensur away from the board but that was plain for all to see! I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way. The old guard will say it’s part of the game but word it how you will – it’s cheating. That’s not darts.”
Suljovic hit back during his post-match press conference, insisting: “What is the problem? Everybody plays different. I play maybe 40 seconds for my first dart. This is me.”
The Austrian is set to face world number one Luke Littler in the third round after Christmas.
Bunting breaks down in tears
Crowd favourite Stephen Bunting should have been celebrating after demolishing India’s Nitin Kumar 3-0 to secure his third-round berth. Instead, ‘The Bullet’ was reduced to tears as he addressed a torrent of online harassment following his self-proclaimed “people’s champion” boast.
The 40 year old had made the casual remark after sailing past Sebastian Bialecki in the opening round, only to face a vicious social media backlash from trolls who questioned his right to adopt such a moniker.
“I’ve had some stick over social media,” Bunting emotionally confessed following his second-round triumph. “I made a comment in the media saying I was the people’s champion. That was literally a comment from what Sky have said, what PDC have said. It wasn’t me saying I’m the people’s champion.”
He added: “I’ve had quite a few emails as well, but I need to rise above that. People online are fickle. Listen, you see the crowd in there tonight, they’re proper darts fans. They know what I’m about.”
Iceman dignified after loss
Former world champion Gerwyn Price became the most notable early round exit over the weekend as he was ousted by underdog Wesley Plaisier. Despite recording a higher average, the world number nine suffered a 3-0 whitewash defeat to his opponent, who is currently ranked 92nd in the world.
To his credit, the fiery Welshman was magnanimous in defeat, taking to Instagram post-match to generously heap praise on his opponent and wish him luck for the rest of the tournament.
He penned: “Absolutely gutted there had so support which was amazing, Wesley was great at the right moments but I was way off and it showed, good luck to him and everyone else left in the tournament see you in 2026. Merry Christmas and a happy new year.”
