Stephen Bunting says he was left “really hurt” after he was met by boos at the Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Trophy.
Bunting lost 6-5 to Niko Springer in a match played against the backdrop of whistling in Germany, with referee Huw Ware even interrupting play to tell the crowd to “shut up” in Göttingen on Saturday.
It came after booing marred Premier League Darts Night Six at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham on Thursday, during which Bunting lost to Jonny Clayton, the night’s eventual winner, 6-3.
Following Saturday’s round-two defeat, Bunting took to Instagram to say he was left upset by the booing and deemed it unacceptable.
He said: “I never moan about defeats or cry about them but feel really hurt tonight even though it was a small minority of people.
“To boo and whistle at important times through any match isn’t acceptable and if you want to do that then go to a football match. Nothing at all against Springer, he played a great match, but the whistling spoilt the game.”
World champion Luke Littler was absent from the European Darts Trophy this week having previously voiced his concerns over crowds in Germany.
‘The Nuke’ has received hostile receptions in Germany in the past, and withdrew from last year’s European Darts Grand Prix held in Sindelfingen.
Bunting added: “I understand why certain players don’t want to travel over here for the whistling.
“But like I said, it isn’t all the time and I love my fans – especially the genuine ones in Germany.”
‘What can you do’ about darts’ booing problem?
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Humphries had the last laugh in Nottingham, responding in style to the crowd as he beat Littler
On Thursday night , stars including Littler and Luke Humphries were met by loud boos in Nottingham but retaliated.
Humphries was seen cupping his ear in response to jeers, while Littler appeared to tease Nottingham Forest fans during his walk-on following the club’s Europa League defeat to Midtjylland on the same night.
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Littler responded to whistles after winning the eighth leg of his quarter-final against Gerwyn Price
Sky Sports’ Glen Durrant called the whistling “frustrating”, while Clayton, who thrashed Humphries 6-1 in the nightly final, said: “It is a small group of people that do it.
“There is whistling going on, and I don’t get why. People are there to watch great darts, and if you’re going to put somebody off, you aren’t going to get great darts.
“I don’t think you can stop it. I think if you told them not to, they’d probably get worse, so what can you do?”
Luke Humphries and Luke Littler are among players in action on Week 7 of Premier League Darts at 7pm on Sky Sports Action. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
