Premier League Darts: Stephen Bunting fortunate, bitter pill to swallow for Danny Noppert says Wayne Mardle | Darts News

Sky Sports Darts’ Wayne Mardle believes Stephen Bunting is “fortunate” and questioned the snubbing of Danny Noppert for this year’s Premier League Darts.

The decision to pick Bunting, alongside the other wild cards of Jonny Clayton, Gerwyn Price and Josh Rock, has caused debate since Monday’s announcement.

Bunting finished bottom of last year’s Premier League and failed to win more than one match at any of the majors following July’s World Matchplay.

He did win two World Series events and two European Tour events but Mardle thinks other played who have not been chosen for the Premier League had better seasons.

“I think that’s a fortunate pick for Stephen. We know he was world No 4 going into the Worlds, now he’s out of it. It would have been a tough pill for him to swallow if he was left out,” he told Sky Sports.

“But, again, I think he will be the one that will breathe a sigh of relief because he didn’t play poorly last year, it just took him eight weeks to get a win.

“Over the short format, you’d have thought that no-one would lose eight games on the bounce. He did, and he didn’t get out of last position. He ended up rallying, to be fair, he rallied and still finished bottom.”

World No 10 Noppert was the most notable admission after he made four major semi-final appearances while Nathan Aspinall also missed out. Mardle thinks “it is a bitter pill to swallow for Noppert” after an “amazing” year on the oche.

“He’s had a better year than some of the players in it. But, when you know what you’re getting from Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton, you know what you’re getting in a Premier League, you don’t know what you’re getting from Danny Noppert,” he said.

“You know you’re going to get someone who’s ultra-consistent, but is he someone that engages with the crowd? Could he become that person? Could he be someone that people switch their TV on to watch him?

“I’ve got a lot of time for Danny, I think he’s an amazing player, and the way he played in the World Championship, it’s hard to lose early in the World Championship, to come out with more credit than he went in with. He did that because that game with Justin Hood was utterly ridiculous. What’s he got to do to get in?”

Mardle: Rock will relish in the Premier League

Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock will be one of two debutants alongside World Championship runner-up when the Premier League begins on February 5 in Newcastle.

Rock won the World Cup of Darts with Daryl Gurney and made the semi-finals of the UK Open and World Matchplay which helped him rise into the top 10 of the PDC rankings for the first time.

Mardle said: “He’s on the up and he’s consistently playing well. We’ve seen him in the past that debutants have done alright.

“Josh is one of those players that will relish it. He’s a fiery character and he seems to thrives on the competition. The Premier League is all that – it’s the big stage, it’s competition, it’s relentless.

“Where I think he’s new to the Premier League, he won’t be jaded. There are some, and Gary Anderson being one of them, and Michael van Gerwen’s mentioned it a lot as well, about how tough the Premier League can be when you’ve played it so often. It’s like, ‘I want a break, I don’t want to be in it’. Gary says that a lot.

“But Josh has got this newness still to him. I don’t see it being an issue one bit. I think he’ll do really well.”

Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday from February 5 until May 28, live on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.