Josh Rock nine-darter as Stephen Bunting wins in Belfast — josh rock
Stephen Bunting claimed night four of the Premier League in Belfast while josh rock delighted the home crowd with a nine-darter. Bunting’s tournament resurgence — and Rock’s perfect leg — were the standout moments of the evening.
Bunting's path to victory
Stephen Bunting, the 40-year-old nicknamed 'the Bullet', defeated defending champion Luke Humphries 6-4 in the quarter-finals, produced a 6-0 semi-final whitewash of current league leader Jonny Clayton and closed the night with a clinical 6-2 win over Gian van Veen in the final. The win moved Bunting from zero to five points overall on the night and underlined his position as sixth in the PDC's order of merit.
Bunting registered his highest Premier League average of 106. 63 in the 6-4 win over Luke Humphries and backed that up with another 106 average in the 6-0 victory against Jonny Clayton. He has come off social media because of criticism and said he had hypnotherapy on the day of competition.
Bunting said: "I do believe I am one of the best players in the world - I deserve to be in the Premier League. " He added: "Everyone was writing me off, people saying I should not be in it, but I know how hard I work behind the scenes. These are the nights I play for. " He reflected on last year: "Losing seven or eight on the bounce last year really helped me, gave me a lot of experience in this field. When you play in the Premier League, you're playing against the best of the best. This ranks up as one of the best wins of my career. " He also said: "Every time I step up, I still believe I am one of the hardest players to beat. People find their best game and I always seem to lose to the winner. Tonight I am the winner. "
Josh Rock's nine-darter moment
Northern Ireland's Josh Rock, one of two debutants in this year's field, produced the first nine-darter of this year's tournament in his quarter-final against Gian van Veen. The perfect leg was also the 20th nine-darter in the history of the Premier League. Players are awarded a set of 18-carat gold darts for hitting a nine-darter in the Premier League.
Despite the perfect leg, Rock lost the quarter-final 6-2 to Gian van Veen. Bunting said of Rock: "Nine-dart hero Rock can be world champion. " The home crowd lauded Rock after the nine-darter, and the moment was described as one he will never forget.
Van Veen and debut run
Gian van Veen, playing in the tournament for the first time, has now reached three finals in four weeks but has struggled to get over the line. He beat Josh Rock 6-2 in the quarters to advance to the final, where he was defeated 6-2 by Bunting.
Littler's early exit
World number one Luke Littler lost 6-3 to Jonny Clayton in the quarter-finals, marking another disappointing night as Littler has now won only one game in four weeks of the competition. For Rock, the 6-2 defeat was a fourth successive loss by that score in his debut Premier League campaign.
Statistics and awards
Rock, aged 24 and known as one of the biggest scorers on the tour, has averaged 92. 33 across the four weeks of the Premier League and holds a checkout percentage of 29. 63% (eight from 27). Bunting is a two-time World Championship semi-finalist and has noted the experience of his recent losing runs and subsequent recovery; he said simply that the win "goes a long way to showing I should be here. " The event listing also references Premier League Darts 2026 fixtures, results and table for the ongoing season.
Night four in Belfast combined a historic nine-darter from a home debutant with a decisive tournament victory from a player who had his place questioned — a sequence of moments that left both the crowd and the leaderboard significantly affected.
