Stephen Bunting claimed his second European Tour title of the year at the Swiss Darts Trophy following a convincing 8-3 victory over Luke Woodhouse in Sunday’s final.
Bunting claimed his sixth title of the season in Basel with an exemplary display against first-time finalist Woodhouse, in game which saw the Liverpudlian average almost 104.
After missing six darts at double in the opening leg, Bunting never looked back and raced into a 3-1 lead before Woodhouse stopped the rot with a hold of throw on double nine.
However, Woodhouse could not live with the world number four, who responded immediately with an 11-darter en route to a comfortable victory at St. Jakobshalle.
“There’s a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes,” said Bunting, who averaged more than 100 in all four matches on Finals Day. “I’m playing the best darts of my life. I feel consistently that I'm delivering. I'm so happy with this win, it means a lot.
“Luke’s had a fantastic week, there’s no better time to be playing your best darts. This will give him a lot of confidence going into future tournaments.”
Bunting kicked off Sunday with a 6-3 victory over Krzysztof Ratajski, before brushing aside Dutch icon Raymond van Barneveld in the last eight.
The former Masters champion then edged a thriller with Gian van Veen in the semi-finals, surviving a match dart to break in the deciding leg after the young Dutchman fought back from 4-0 down.
“I'm number four in the world. The rankings are over a few years so it shows how consistent I’ve been, but you can’t take anything for granted in this game,” Bunting continued. “There’s so many good players in this world and to be in the top four in the world is an unbelievable achievement.
“I can’t take my foot off the gas, I need to keep on the practice board and keep improving. Hopefully there’s a big tournament coming soon.”
Woodhouse reached only his second PDC final after a stand-out display of doubling across Sunday’s action.
After dispatching a wasteful Jermaine Wattimena, the 36-year-old profited from a missed match dart from last year’s finalist Ryan Searle in squeezing through to the semi-finals.
In the last four, Woodhouse ended Cor Dekker’s best-ever European Tour run, hitting 70 per cent of his darts at the outer ring en route to a 7-3 success over the Norwegian.
“He scored so heavily and proved why he’s where he is in the world,” reflected Woodhouse. "He kept me under the cosh from the start and I just could not get close to him.
“It’s all positive for me now. Just getting to a final is a massive achievement and I’d have taken it at the start of the weekend. I’m hoping now this can be the start of something I can really push on to and take this into the ProTours and into the rest of the year.
“I’m more than capable of playing against any player. I’ve beaten all the top players. Hopefully this year, a first title comes.”
Dekker’s record run came after edging past Chris Dobey and Jonny Clayton in last-leg deciders, which included a 127 match-winning checkout against Dobey - in spite of a 107 average from the Englishman.
World Youth Champion Van Veen’s route to the semi-finals saw him see off Ryan Joyce and Rob Cross, in what was a first European Tour quarter-final of the year for Voltage.
Earlier in the day, world number one Luke Humphries lost out to Searle, while Martin Schindler’s title defence was ended by a clinical Clayton, despite a ton-plus average from the German number one.
Van Barneveld whitewashed Ritchie Edhouse in the last 16 to confirm his spot at the World Grand Prix in Leicester at the expense of Dave Chisnall, with Edhouse now unable to qualify for and defend his European Championship crown.
2025 Swiss Darts Trophy results
Round One
- Callan Rydz 6-1 Connor Scutt
- Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Dalibor Smolik
- Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Owen Bates
- Cor Dekker 6-3 Andrew Gilding
- Ryan Joyce 6-0 Rocco Fulciniti
- Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Lukas Wenig
- Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Oskar Lukasiak
- Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Martin Lukeman
- Chris Landman 6-3 Denis Schnetzer
- Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Wessel Nijman
- Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Ansh Sood
- Richard Veenstra 6-5 Niko Springer
- Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Stefan Bellmont
- Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Jitse van der Wal
- Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Andreas Toft Jorgensen
- William O’Connor 6-1 Daryl Gurney
Round Two
- Ryan Searle 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
- Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Dave Chisnall
- Cor Dekker 6-3 Peter Wright
- Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Mike De Decker
- Rob Cross 6-2 Richard Veenstra
- Gian van Veen 6-0 Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Danny Noppert 6-5 William O’Connor
- Ritchie Edhouse Bye (Ross Smith withdrawn)
- Ryan Joyce 6-5 James Wade
- Martin Schindler 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
- Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Josh Rock
- Luke Humphries 6-2 Callan Rydz
- Jonny Clayton 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
- Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Damon Heta
- Stephen Bunting 6-3 Chris Landman
- Chris Dobey 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Round Three
- Ryan Searle 6-4 Luke Humphries
- Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Jermaine Wattimena
- Jonny Clayton 6-3 Martin Schindler
- Cor Dekker 6-5 Chris Dobey
- Stephen Bunting 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
- Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Ritchie Edhouse
- Gian van Veen 6-2 Ryan Joyce
- Rob Cross 6-5 Danny Noppert
Quarter-Finals
- Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Ryan Searle
- Cor Dekker 6-5 Jonny Clayton
- Stephen Bunting 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
- Gian van Veen 6-2 Rob Cross
Semi-Finals
- Luke Woodhouse 7-3 Cor Dekker
- Stephen Bunting 7-6 Gian van Veen
Final
- Stephen Bunting 8-3 Luke Woodhouse
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