Stephen Bunting stormed to victory in the Mr Vegas Nordic Darts Masters on Saturday, defeating Rob Cross 8-4 in Copenhagen to clinch his second World Series title of 2025.
It was a third consecutive final on the World Series circuit for Bunting, and a repeat of their title showdown in Den Bosch in January, with Bunting exacting his revenge on Cross in a superb performance.
It looked evenly poised at three-apiece at the first break, with Cross having sunk a 116 checkout on the way.
However, a run of five straight legs for a revitalised Bunting - including a 104 checkout in the eighth leg - saw him stretch to the brink of victory at 7-3.
Cross looked spent, and despite breaking the rut at 7-4, could do little to stop Bunting as he crossed the line to add the Nordic Darts Masters title to his Bahrain crown from earlier this year.
It’s a welcome return to form for the St Helens star, after he had struggled in recent months with a gruelling Premier League campaign.
“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 run to the title started with a routine 6-3 win over Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak on Friday.
He then saw off Jonny Clayton by the same scoreline in the quarter-finals, to set up a clash with Nathan Aspinall in the last four - who himself had defeated Luke Littler 6-3 in the previous round.
There was a late scare for Bunting in the semi-finals, after he spurned chances and saw Aspinall recover from 6-1 down before eventually reaching the final in a 7-5 victory.
As for Cross, he blitzed his way through the quarter-finals by whitewashing Chris Dobey, landing three ton-plus finishes in the process.
Gerwyn Price, who had earlier seen off Luke Humphries 6-3 in a high-quality affair, was Cross’ next victim as he powered through 7-4 to set up the title bout 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."
Nordic Darts Masters Results
First Round
- Chris Dobey 6-2 Jeffrey de Graaf
- Gerwyn Price 6-3 Cor Dekker
- Rob Cross 6-4 Andreas Harrysson
- Luke Humphries 6-5 Madars Razma
- Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Benjamin Reus
- Luke Littler 6-3 Viktor Tingstrom
- Stephen Bunting 6-3 Oskar Lukasiak
- Jonny Clayton 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
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
