Bunting claims second World Series title in Copenhagen “The way I have been playing, I was wondering whether I would ever win a title again”

Stephen Bunting won the Mr Vegas Nordic Darts Masters on Saturday, defeating Rob Cross 8-4 in Copenhagen to secure his second World Series championship of 2025.

Bunting’s third consecutive World Series final, and a rematch of their title clash in Den Bosch in January, saw him take his revenge on Cross with a magnificent performance.

At the first break, it appeared to be a three-way tie, with Cross sinking a 116 checkout.

However, a run of five straight games for a reinvigorated Bunting, including a 104 checkout in the eighth round, propelled him to the brink of victory, 7-3.

Cross appeared exhausted, and despite breaking the rut at 7-4, he could do little to stop Bunting as he crossed the line to add the Nordic Darts Masters championship to his Bahrain victory earlier this year.

It’s a nice return to form for the St Helens star, who has suffered in recent months with a demanding Premier League season.

“The way I have been playing, I was wondering whether I would ever win a title again,” stated Bunting, who had lost his last nine games against Cross in all competitions.

“I am really proud of myself the last few days. I have put the effort in, played some great darts and I believe I am a deserved winner.

“When you come and play in front of a crowd like this, you don’t want to let them down.

“I saw there were a lot of Bunting fans out there, and they really get me through. It was a privilege to play in front of them and hopefully I can maintain this form for the rest of the season.”

Bunting’s title run began with an easy 6-3 victory over Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak on Friday.

He then overcame Jonny Clayton by the same scoreline in the quarter-finals, setting up a meeting with Nathan Aspinall in the last four, who had defeated Luke Littler 6-3 the previous round.

Bunting faced a late scare in the semi-finals, when he missed opportunities and watched Aspinall come back from 6-1 down to win 7-5.

Cross, on the other hand, breezed through the quarter-finals by defeating Chris Dobey and scoring three ton-plus finishes.

Cross’ next victim was Gerwyn Price, who had previously defeated Luke Humphries 6-3 in a high-quality fight, and he dominated 7-4 to set up the title fight with Bunting.

“It wasn’t meant to be for me – I probably ran out of steam in the end,” said Cross.

“Credit to Stephen, he was absolutely brilliant and I just didn’t have it in the end.

“For me, I need to carry on fighting. I wanted to win so badly here, but the intensity killed me and I just didn’t perform in the final.”

Bunting claims second World Series title in Copenhagen

2025 Mr Vegas Nordic Darts Masters

Saturday June 7

Quarter-Finals

Stephen Bunting 6-3 Jonny Clayton

Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Luke Littler

Rob Cross 6-0 Chris Dobey

Gerwyn Price 6-3 Luke Humphries

Semi-Finals

Stephen Bunting 7-5 Nathan Aspinall

Rob Cross 7-4 Gerwyn Price

Final

Stephen Bunting 8-4 Rob Cross

 

The World Series of Darts continues on June 27-28 with the PDC returning to New York’s Madison Square Garden for the 2025 US Darts Masters, followed by the Poland Darts Masters on July 4-5 in Gliwice. Then the long trip down under in August as the stars head to Australia and New Zealand.