Darts star hits back at Luke Littler criticism - after rival branded his behaviour with the star 'weird' on the back of World Championship clash
Darts star hits back at Luke Littler criticism - after rival branded his behaviour with the star 'weird' on the back of World Championship clash
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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 last week.
![[He was criticised for fist-bumping the star while he was thrashed at Alexandra Palace]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/27/08/94550245-0-image-a-2_1737966596593.jpg)
That followed his run to the semi-final at the World Darts Championship, when he lost against Littler, who would go onto win the tournament, 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.
![[Littler beat Bunting 6-1 in the semi-finals on his way to winning the tournament this month]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/27/08/94550243-0-image-a-3_1737966599089.jpg)
Following the event, Bunting's actions on stage were called into question, with rival player Dave Chisnall calling it 'a bit weird' despite insisting Bunting is his 'pal'. Now, however, Bunting has responded, jumping to his own defence and praising Littler.
![[Dave Chisnall wrote that Bunting's behaviour was 'weird', but branded him his 'pal']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/27/08/94550993-14328771-image-m-24_1737968189506.jpg)
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.
![[Littler won the World Championship, but was beaten but Bunting in the Netherlands last week]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/27/08/94550519-0-image-a-4_1737966847592.jpg)
'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.
