Resurgent Stephen Bunting seals Belfast crown as Josh Rock lands homecoming nine-darter
Stephen Bunting produced a trio of glittering performances to claim glory on Night Four of the BetMGM Premier League in Belfast, as Josh Rock struck perfection on home soil.
Bunting – who was winless after the first three nights of action – defeated Luke Humphries, Jonny Clayton and Gian van Veen to clinch maximum points on a memorable night at the SSE Arena.
The world number six opened up with personal-best Premier League average of 106.6 in overcoming Humphries 6-4 with 75 on the doubles in the process.
The former Masters champion then maintained his incredible standard against Clayton, whitewashing the league leader with another average north of 106.
Bunting was tasked with Dutch number one Van Veen in the final, taking an early 2-0 lead before capitalising on missed darts at double from his opponent to break and lead 4-1.
The 40-year-old then closed the match out with a composed 13-darter to claim his first nightly win of the season and shoot up to fifth in the league table.
“I’m overjoyed to be honest, this has got to rank up there with one of the best wins of my career,” admitted an emotional Bunting.
“I was a bit emotional early on after my first game and I held it together.
“I’ve had John Terry saying I should be pushing people off the stage, but hopefully I’ve done that tonight with my scoring and my doubles!
“I still believe I’m one of the best players in the world and deserve to be in this Premier League, this goes a long way to say why I should be here.
“The fans in here tonight, wow! These are the nights that I play for.”
Despite Bunting’s success, Rock stole many of the headlines with his stunning nine-darter on home soil, despite succumbing to a 6-2 loss to Van Veen in the quarter-finals.
The 24-year-old, who was trailing Van Veen 5-1 with a mid-80s average, fired in two 180s, followed by a spectacular 141 checkout to send the Belfast faithful wild.
“To hit a nine-darter as nervous as I was… Holy God!” said a shell-shocked Rock.
“Double 12 hasn’t been good to me the last six months, so when the treble 20 and treble 19 went in, I thought, please go in!
“When it went in, I couldn’t hold the celebrations back in front of my home crowd… wow! Gian was buzzing too!”
“I know I didn’t get the result but I was very happy to hit a nine-darter in front of my home crowd.”
Van Veen continued to make inroads in his debut Premier League campaign despite falling short to Bunting, reaching his third final in the space of four nights.
The reigning European Champion dispatched home hero Rock with a dominant display which included a 167 checkout.
Van Veen then edged out Gerwyn Price in a deciding-leg thriller, averaging 105 and converting a clutch 68 finish after Price had missed a match dart at the bull.
Meanwhile, Clayton defeated Littler for the second successive week to claim his fourth consecutive quarter-final win of the campaign, leaving the world number one second from bottom in the early standings.
Price reeled off three straight legs from 5-3 down to complete a spirited deciding-leg comeback against Van Gerwen – who returned to action after missing last week’s trip to Glasgow through illness.
Premier League Darts 2026 Night Four Results
Thursday February 26
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler 3-6 Jonny Clayton
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Luke Humphries
Michael van Gerwen 5-6 Gerwyn Price
Gian van Veen 6-2 Josh Rock – *Rock hits a nine-darter*
Semi-Finals
Jonny Clayton 0-6 Stephen Bunting
Gerwyn Price 5-6 Gian van Veen
Final
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Gian van Veen
