Latest news with #PaddyPowerWorldChampionship
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stephen Bunting conqueror stuns the world in legendary New York arena now he craves the Mecca of Darts
American hero Jason Brandon shattered Stephen Bunting and is chasing down a dream date at the Ally Pally. The 50-year-old produced the biggest performance of his career to batter The Bullet in the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Gardens in front of a joyous New York crowd. Advertisement Brandon won 6-4 over Bunting with the Tennessee slinger earning redemption for his loss to Rob Cross on the stage two years ago. But, as well as success in the States, he also has eyes on another iconic venue in London and a place alongside the likes of defending champion Luke Littler in this year's expanded Paddy Power World Championship. READ MORE: Excited Damon Heta fancied running into crowd on insane New York debut READ MORE: Open legends extending their 25-year scrap into another Major battle June 27, 2025; New York, NY; Luke Litter vs Jules van Dongen during the first round of the 2025 bet365 US Darts Masters at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. Mandatory Credit: Matt Heasley/PDC PDC expansions of the event have opened more doors for the likes of Brandon with five places available to US-based stars for Ally Pally. Advertisement Brandon also has a shot of making the Lakeside World Championship, but has no hesitation in nominating which English Capital venue he'd like to be heading at Christmas as he said: 'It's bad to say, but I 100 per cent have to pick Ally Pally. It's just that's since I started and I found out about all this stuff, that's been a dream of mine to play. Obviously, Lakeside is awesome and I would love to get back there and have another chance. But if I was to qualify for Ally Pally, I would absolutely have to take that spot. 'We have all kinds of opportunities now and with the additional spots since they've expanded the PDC, those other spots now that's available to get, there's other avenues, not just open for one or two positions. We've got like five spots we can get now. That's awesome. I hope it gets more from there. I hope it expands even further, but we'll see how it goes. 'I'm hoping I don't mess myself up out of any of the spots. I tried to do that a few years ago, tried to play both and try to keep my options open to play CDC and WDF. Hopefully I have a shot at PDC and I messed myself up out of both of them. Right now I'm still in a good spot for Lakeside. I still can make the CDC stuff and we'll see how it goes.' Brandon is thrilled to have the New York opportunity and said: 'I've got to admit, I really wasn't expecting to make it back this year. I only had the one chance left in the qualifier and I played the best starts I played all day. I was fortunate enough to get through the qualifier to make it back up here. Advertisement 'It's unreal that darts is the way is coming up here now in the US. To be able to play at such an iconic stage, it's amazing. It's great. It's awesome.' June 27, 2025; New York, NY; Damon Heta vs Jim Long during the first round of the 2025 bet365 US Darts Masters at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. Mandatory Credit: Matt Heasley/PDC He displayed his talents with the Bunting success which has earned a last-eight crack at Damon Heta and said: 'That's my biggest win. I'm struggling to find the words. My goal was to come up here and get a little bit of redemption for two years ago. I don't know how I held it together but I was able to focus. I'm feeling way better about my darts now than I was coming into the event. I'm ready for Saturday.'
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Stephen Bunting conqueror stuns the world in legendary New York arena now he craves the Mecca of Darts
Qualifier wants to go from one iconic stage in New York to another in London American hero Jason Brandon shattered Stephen Bunting and is chasing down a dream date at the Ally Pally. The 50-year-old produced the biggest performance of his career to batter The Bullet in the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Gardens in front of a joyous New York crowd. Brandon won 6-4 over Bunting with the Tennessee slinger earning redemption for his loss to Rob Cross on the stage two years ago. But, as well as success in the States, he also has eyes on another iconic venue in London and a place alongside the likes of defending champion Luke Littler in this year's expanded Paddy Power World Championship. PDC expansions of the event have opened more doors for the likes of Brandon with five places available to US-based stars for Ally Pally. Brandon also has a shot of making the Lakeside World Championship, but has no hesitation in nominating which English Capital venue he'd like to be heading at Christmas as he said: 'It's bad to say, but I 100 per cent have to pick Ally Pally. It's just that's since I started and I found out about all this stuff, that's been a dream of mine to play. Obviously, Lakeside is awesome and I would love to get back there and have another chance. But if I was to qualify for Ally Pally, I would absolutely have to take that spot. 'We have all kinds of opportunities now and with the additional spots since they've expanded the PDC, those other spots now that's available to get, there's other avenues, not just open for one or two positions. We've got like five spots we can get now. That's awesome. I hope it gets more from there. I hope it expands even further, but we'll see how it goes. 'I'm hoping I don't mess myself up out of any of the spots. I tried to do that a few years ago, tried to play both and try to keep my options open to play CDC and WDF. Hopefully I have a shot at PDC and I messed myself up out of both of them. Right now I'm still in a good spot for Lakeside. I still can make the CDC stuff and we'll see how it goes.' Brandon is thrilled to have the New York opportunity and said: 'I've got to admit, I really wasn't expecting to make it back this year. I only had the one chance left in the qualifier and I played the best starts I played all day. I was fortunate enough to get through the qualifier to make it back up here. 'It's unreal that darts is the way is coming up here now in the US. To be able to play at such an iconic stage, it's amazing. It's great. It's awesome.' He displayed his talents with the Bunting success which has earned a last-eight crack at Damon Heta and said: 'That's my biggest win. I'm struggling to find the words. My goal was to come up here and get a little bit of redemption for two years ago. I don't know how I held it together but I was able to focus. I'm feeling way better about my darts now than I was coming into the event. I'm ready for Saturday.'
Daily Record
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Luke Littler prize money as darts sensation closes in on major milestone at Premier League Darts Finals Night
The teenage sensation is looking to continue a brilliant 2025 at Thursday's Premier League Darts finale Lethal Luke Little r can smash the £1million mark for 2025 if he comes out on top again in Thursday's BetMGM Premier League showpiece. The outstanding World Champion is aiming to go back-to-back at London's O2 having won the crown in his debut year 12 months ago. Littler has already claimed two major titles along with a Euro Tour triumph in Belgium and, incredibly, another trophy lift will whip him through the seven figures in prize money for the calendar year with over half of it still to go as PDC chiefs and sponsors lavish big purses to the key events. The teenager scooped £500,000 for winning the Paddy Power World Championship at the beginning of January and £110,000 for securing the Ladbrokes UK Open title in March. With additional prize-money gained from a quarter-final run at the Winmau World Masters and ProTour and European Tour events also boosted by six nightly wins in the regular 16-week league campaign worth £10,000 each, the youngster could top the million mark in combined ranking and non-ranking cash by grabbing the £275,000 first prize on offer at London's O2. Littler meets Gerwyn Price in the first semi-final on Thursday and is looking forward to the big night as he said: 'I'm very happy to finish top of the table and break more records once again. "I'm ready for the semi-finals. It's The O2, I've been there before, I've won a semi-final before, but so has Gerwyn. I know it's going to be an incredible night, it's going to be a sell-out and I'm really looking forward to it.' If Littler defeats Price, the World Champion will meet either Luke Humphries or Nathan Aspinall, who clash in the evening's second semi-final. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here. Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
