Darts star hits back at Luke Littler criticism – after rival branded his behaviour with the star ‘weird’ on the back of World Championship clash

A darts star has hit back at criticism over his behaviour with Luke Littler – after it was branded ‘weird’ by a rival.

Stephen Bunting has been in fine form over the last few months, winning the Bahrain Darts Masters and finishing second to Rob Cross in the Dutch Darts Masters on Saturday.

That followed his run to the semi-final at the World Darts Championship, when he was beaten by eventual tournament winner Littler at Alexandra Palace.

During the game between the two on January 2, Bunting was seen regularly fist-bumping Littler, who would dominate ‘The Bullet’ and eventually come out the winner with a 6-1 victory.

And Bunting’s actions on stage were called into question after the event, with rival player Dave Chisnall calling it ‘a bit weird’ despite insisting Bunting is his ‘pal’.

Bunting has now responded as he defended his behaviour and praised Littler.

Darts star Stephen Bunting (left) has hit back over criticism of his behaviour with Luke Littler

He was criticised for fist-bumping the star while he was thrashed at Alexandra Palace

Littler beat Bunting 6-1 in the semi-finals on his way to winning the tournament this month

‘It does annoy me a bit that people pick up upon that sort of thing,’ Bunting said. ‘That shows how well I’m playing, that they have got to pick up on a fist bump rather than a bad performance.

‘Luke is a lad who has the world at his feet and he is still learning the game. I’m very respectful for what he is doing for our game. I hope he continues for a lot of years because he is bringing in a lot more money to our sport.

‘So, yeah, I am pretty respectful and thankful that he is doing that. On another side, I know him personally, I have grown up in the same area as him, known him for a lot of years since he was a little kid.

‘I played Luke Humphries in Bahrain, there were a few games there, a few shots where we fist-bumped. It is not all the time. We are all friends on the tour.’

Chisnall, who is ranked sixth in the world but missed out on selection for both Masters events so far as well as the Premier League, wrote in a Kwiff column: ‘The one big disappointment of the semi-finals was my pal Stephen Bunting.

‘He was phenomenal in the first set, but will have been gutted to lose it 3-2, despite the high averages.

‘I’m not one for gamesmanship and you won’t hear me slagging folk off, but I did think the fist bumps after every set was a bit weird.

‘It was noticeable that Michael (Van Gerwen) was having none of it in the final!’ he added.

Dave Chisnall wrote that Bunting’s behaviour was ‘weird’, but branded him his ‘pal’

Littler won the World Championship, but was beaten but Bunting in the Netherlands last week

Bunting, 39, has enjoyed a fine rise in the sport, now ranked No 5 and returning to Premier League selection on the back of his run at the Worlds.

In the Netherlands, he beat Littler in the semi-finals in a last-leg decider.

Last week’s competition was the first since Littler had turned 18, as he missed out on the £30,000 prize money on offer.

That was claimed by Cross, who suffered a shock first round defeat in Bahrain, but was back in form in the Netherlands.