STEPHEN BUNTING was the winner in Stage Three of DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD in France as he defeated Benjamin Dersch in the final.
Bunting, who had competed on the previous weekend in the Speedy Services UK Open, came through over 200 players in the third of eight stages in the world's biggest soft-tip event.
Bunting was joined in competing in La Rochelle by top PDC stars Justin Pipe, Colin Lloyd and Mark Webster, with the event being held alongside the DARTSLIVE French League Finals, which attracted 8,000 players!
The World Masters champion overcame Tony Martin - who also competed in the UK Open and is the husband of Women's World Champion Anastasia Dobromyslova - in the quarter-finals before whitewashing Takehiro Suzuki in the semis in under five minutes.
He then denied Dersch a dream 36th birthday present by claiming a 3-1 victory in the final, which he opened with a superb 14-dart 701 and sealed with a 17-darter, after the pair shared the two legs of Cricket.
Bunting later revealed: "I had no expectations in this tournament, as I've not played soft darts before!
"Practice was going good for me, but you have to be on your game here as there are a lot of very good players. It means a lot to me and my family to have won here - I owe a lot to Tony Martin and Anastasia, who taught me a lot about soft tip darts."
Stage Four of DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD will be held on July 13 in Korea, with Stage Five taking place in Shanghai on August 25.
DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD
Soft Darts World Championship 2013
Stage Three, June 16 - La Rochelle, France
Quarter-Finals
Takehiro Suzuki 3-1 Kei Usami
Stephen Bunting 3-1 Tony Martin
Benjamin Dersch 3-2 Antonio Jimenez
Boris Krcmar 3-1 Darryl Fitton
Semi-Finals
Stephen Bunting 3-0 Takehiro Suzuki
Benny Dersch 3-1 Boris Krcmar
Final
Stephen Bunting 3-1 Benny Dersch
The Final
Leg by Leg - 701/Cricket/Cricket/701/Choice. Loser throws first.
1-0 - Bunting wins in a 'perfect' 14 dart leg, and wins £250 for the trouble, with Dersch left on 144.
2-0 - Bunting wins cricket with 300 points and a 5.00 average to Dersch's 295 points and 4.29 average.
2-1 - Dersch starts with a nine mark and follows up with a white horse (3 separate trebles) to take the 3rd leg with a 6.4 average and a score of 396 to Bunting's 382 points and 5.25 average.
3-1 - Bunting wins in 17 darts with Dersch sitting on 74.
DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD
Soft Darts World Championship 2013 Schedule
Stage One - April 28, Hong Kong
Stage Two - May 26, Hong Kong
Stage Three - June 16, France
Stage Four - July 13, Korea
Stage Five - August 25, Shanghai
Stage Six - September 21, USA
Stage Seven - October 13, Hong Kong
Stage Eight - November 3, Hong Kong
Grand Final - Dec 14-15, Hong Kong
For more information and entry details, please visit http://darts-theworld.com/en/schedule/.