Stephen Bunting on Winmau World Masters alert as he reveals why he is wary of Willie Borland

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Stephen Bunting admits he’s wary of nine-dart Scot Willie Borland.The defending Masters champion faces the West Lothian star in Thursday’s opening session of the 2025 Winmau World Masters.Bunting is huge favourite to progress, but he is wary of the Tartan terror who superbly dumped Dirk van Duijvenbode, Alan Soutar and Mickey Mansell to secure his place.

The Bullet recalls his rival’s fabulous nine-darter against Bradley Brooks at the 2021 World Championships which rocketed him to prominence.Borland has struggled to those hit heights since, but Bunting remains cautious of the threat and said: “He’s a good player.

I think no matter who you play, when you come in as reigning champ, it’s always going to be difficult. I need to make sure that I’m focused fully on my game and, hopefully, that’s good enough.“I don’t think we’ve played many times.

I do recall a game on the Pro Tour where I won, but it was quite a long time ago. But, obviously, he’s had some magical moments at the Worlds, the nine-darter and stuff.