THE Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts semi-finals proved to be a step too far for Stephen Bunting this year.

St Helens’ remaining thrower in the competition was snuffed out 10-6 by flying Scotsman Gary Anderson in the last eight on Thursday night.

It was a dose of double trouble for 49-year-old Windle based Bunting at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton, where he reached the last four in 2023.

That led to the Bullet falling 8-2 behind but the Cazoo Masters champion clawed his way back into the contest at 8-5 and 9-6.

His scoring was good at times, shown in that he scored 140+ eight times more than his opponent who he matched for 180s.

Ultimately, he left himself with too big a mountain to climb as he fell six legs adrift and the 23 missed doubles out of 29 attempts cost him dearly.

Anderson goes on to face Dutch 22-year-old Gian van Geen in Saturday night’s semi-finals, while Bunting and his fellow St Helens arrow men Michael Smith and Dave Chisnall - who failed to progress from the group stage this week - must turn their focus to the Players Championship Finals at Butlin’s Minehead Resort next weekend.