Luke Humphries' preferred World Darts Championship winner emerges - and it's not Luke Littler
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Defending champion Luke Humphries has backed his close friend Stephen Bunting to win the World Darts Championship following his own shock exit from the tournament.
The world number one crashed out after a 4-1 defeat to Peter Wright in Sunday night's round of 16 at Alexandra Palace.
Rather than supporting teenage sensation Luke Littler, whom he beat in last year's final, Humphries has thrown his support behind practice partner Bunting, revealing he would "love to hand the crown over" to his friend.
Bunting secured his place in the quarter-finals with a convincing 4-0 victory over Luke Woodhouse.
Luke Humphries has told Stephen Bunting to go on and become the world champion
PA
The two practice partners had anticipated meeting each other at this stage of the tournament during their training sessions.
"I probably did expect to play Luke, to be fair, in our practice sessions we talked about playing in the quarters," Bunting said.
Wright's stunning performance, including over 70 percent success rate on doubles, proved too much for Humphries despite his status as the world's top-ranked player.
Bunting revealed he had received a touching message from Humphries following his victory.
"I spoke to him this morning and he wished me luck, he said he would love to hand the crown over to me and give me his World Championship," Bunting said.
"That means a lot. He's a massive friend of mine.
"We'll continue to practice after this tournament."
The 39-year-old Liverpudlian is now focused on his quarter-final clash with Wright, who ended Humphries' title defence.
Bunting remains focused on taking one game at a time in his pursuit of glory.
Stephen Bunting has plans to win the World Championship
PA
"I'm focussed on one game at a time, one leg at a time, one dart at a time, one throw at a time," he explained.
"It's pointless me thinking about who I'm going to play because things happen. Luke didn't win. He's the best player on the planet, he's unbelievable."
The former BDO world champion is confident in his abilities to secure his first PDC world title.
"I know I can go all the way, it's about doing it," Bunting added.
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Luke Littler is the favourite to win the World Championship
Reuters
The quarter-final lineup sees Wright face Bunting in what promises to be an intriguing encounter on New Year's Day.
The winner will advance to face either Luke Littler or Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals.
Other quarter-final matchups feature Michael van Gerwen against Callan Rydz, while Chris Dobey takes on Gerwyn Price.
For Bunting, the path to his first PDC World Championship title now runs through Wright, who showed his championship credentials by eliminating the defending champion.
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