James Hurrell created the upset of Round Three by knocking out Stephen Bunting in the World Championship and said he “should have won 4-0”.
Bunting looked set to pursue his dream of winning the trophy on the biggest stage of all as he led 2-1 after three sets.
But Hurrell hit back and applied pressure on the Merseyside darts ace who began to struggle.
Hurrell won the deciding set to beat Bunting 4-3 in what will become a classic at Ally Pally.
Bunting averaged over 110 throughout the opening leg to take the early lead, but Hurrell wasn’t ready to back down.
Hurrell checked out finishes such as 120 and won three legs on the bounce to stun the crowd and take the first set.
“Hillbilly” took advantage of Bunting who missed the bull to check out 132.
This left an opportunity for Hurrell to lead by two legs, which he took full advantage of.
Hurrell will have regrets as he missed several darts at a double to take the second set.
Bunting produced a piece of magic in the final two legs as he checked out 110 to make it two legs apiece, before clearing a superb 161 to take the set and send the crowd wild.
A similar story unfolded in the third set as Bunting navigated himself through each leg, leaving finishes such as 58 on his beloved tops.
But Hurrell stunned everyone again with a 137 checkout to deny Bunting a dart at the doubles.
Both players headed into a deciding leg once more, for the second time in the match.
“The Bullet” produced another moment of brilliance, checking out 121 when he most needed it to turn things around and lead two sets to one.
As the match unfolded, Hurrell stood firm and made a clean sweep of set number four by winning three legs in a row to make it two sets apiece.
The Englishman’s confidence rose and was on course for a nine-darter before missing out with his sixth dart of the set.
Bunting’s pace dropped and Hurrell took advantage to move into a 3-2 lead.
A third deciding leg took place, this time in set number six.
An under-pressure Bunting had to dig deep to fight back and level the match at 3-3.
The constant pressure from Hurrell seemed to have taken its toll on Bunting, who failed to get the better of him in the deciding set as Hurrell won three legs on the bounce to snatch victory.
In his post-match press conference, Hurrell said: “I feel amazing, it’s the biggest win of my career.
“I knew where my game was coming into this one.
“I just needed to work on my doubles. I know where I’m heading — I’m not going anywhere.”
When asked about his next opponent, either Ryan Searle or Martin Schindler, Hurrell added: “I just beat the number four in the world, I’m not bothered.”
After having dominated long spells of the game, Hurrell said he “should have won 4-0”.
“It’s been an amazing journey so far, there’s no better job than this.
“He (Bunting) celebrated like he won the game — I worked off that.”
Hurrell will face Ryan Searle for a spot in the quarter-finals.
View Hurrell’s post-match interview, below:
