Peter Wright visibly frustrated as he fails to continue run in Stephen ...

Peter Wright struggled to replicate the successes of earlier this week as he was soundly beaten by Stephen Bunting.

Wright was fresh off the back of an incredible win over world No.1 Luke Humphries, and fancied his chances of a run to the latter stages of the tournament.

2

He would next take on a fellow fan favourite Bunting at Ally Pally, to set up a potential semi-final with the winner of Luke Littler vs Nathan Aspinall.

But the former two-time world champion failed to roll back the years this time around, with Bunting taking complete advantage.

Wright was unfortunately a shadow of his recent form at the tournament, and was soundly beaten 5-2.

It was a sharp contrast to his last performance, and caps off a tough year of form for the Scotsman who has struggled during 2024.

Bunting looked set to secure a crushing victory after 4-0 up against Snakebite, leaving the Scottish star on the cusp of a swift exit.

However Wright showed his fighting instinct to claim the next two sets to leave Bunting feeling a tad anxious.

But the world no.8 was able to clinch the next set to secure his spot in the semi-finals on Thursday night.

Victory does, however, mean that Bunting moves up to world number five and takes home a guaranteed £100,000 in prize money.

Reflecting on the win, Bunting said: "In the back room I felt really nervous, on edge. Peter Wright is a massive fans' favourite, a great mate mine and he's my son's favourite player so I feel sorry for my son.

"I'm so pleased to get over the line. For the first four sets the fans were unreal - but you must do better!

2

"I knew I was in control of the game but Peter was coming back into it. I just thought to myself, don't let myself down, refocus like I've done. Each and every game I've focused on that one opponent.

"I had a feeling that Peter was going to go off slightly and I was lucky that he did.

"Massive credit goes to Luke [Humphries]. He took his time out to practice with me, it was a plan we made three or four months ago and it's paying dividends for me.

"Pitting my wits against the best player in the world really has helped, even if it didn't show in the second half of that game - I was so nervous. I can look forward to the rest of the tournament now.

"That's the nervy one out of the way.

"Unbelievable, world number five, wow. We just keep going. It's quite emotional, I've worked really hard behind the scenes... I'm not going to cry."

Tune into talkSPORT 2 for coverage of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, as we bring you exclusive live commentary from Alexandra Palace. Listen via our web player, app, on DAB, or through your smart speaker.