Stephen Bunting has left fans in stitches with his reaction to Luke Littler winning the Bahrain Masters. The teenage sensation, fresh off a fairytale run at the World Darts Championship, clinched his first PDC televised title in his World Series of Darts debut by beating Michael van Gerwen on Friday.
Social media was flooded with messages of congratulations for ‘The Nuke’ from around the sporting world while Bunting was on hand to pay tribute to Littler via TikTok. Posting to his 140,000 followers, Bunting recorded himself clapping the 16-year-old as he collected his trophy with Littler’s walkout song ‘Greenlight’ playing in the background.
The video ended with Bunting calling the youngster “brilliant.” One fan wrote: “Stephen Bunting, recording himself clapping Luke Littler in front of his TV, has killed me. Never change Stephen.”
Another tweeted: “Me clapping myself off the stage after karaoke.” A third quipped: “Mum clapping for the NHS during Covid.”
No one was more over the moon with the victory than Littler, who admitted he “wasn’t expecting anything” from the tournament. “I had not picked a dart up since the World Championship final, so I wasn’t expecting anything,” said Littler, who will celebrate his 17th birthday on Sunday.
“I came over to Bahrain just thinking: ‘Win my first round game and then see who you play in the next round’, but it’s been unbelievable this week.
“The Asian qualifiers were great too, but I have proven that I’ve got the ability to win [titles], and I’m just really happy to be the winner.”
“I’m just very happy to get over the line against a very good Michael van Gerwen,” added Littler. “Michael is still one of the best if not the best, but I am just so happy to win on my [World Series] debut.
“I can’t wait to play in every tournament. I know the Premier League will be gruelling and you have the ProTours in between, but let’s do it, why not? It may never happen again, that’s how I think of it.”
