The Merseyside thrower Survives Significant Scare while 'The Royal Bengal' Secures History for India.
Stephen Bunting narrowly avoided an early exit to move into the next stage of the world darts championship on the opening weekend.
'The Bullet', who reached losing semi-finalist last year, was forced all the way to a deciding tie-breaker by Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki before finally clinching a 3-2 victory at Alexandra Palace.
A Rollercoaster Match
Bunting began in blistering fashion, averaging an incredible 119.4 as he powered through the first set. The win appeared certain after landing a spectacular 160 finish to seize the second set.
However, ‘The Bullet’ cooled off, and he managed just one leg over the next two sets. This let Bialecki – who remained unfazed even when a wasp settled on his shoulder – to draw level. Bunting found his rhythm in the final set, but was still taken to the wire before securing it 4-2.
“When you are playing at Alexandra Palace you experience all the feelings,” Bunting stated on Sky Sports. “I knew Sebastian was going to be a challenge and even at 2-0 he never gave in. I am fortunate to come through that one.”
Kumar Makes Historic Victory
Bunting's next opponent will be Nitin Kumar, who made history by becoming the first Indian winner at the event. He beat Dutchman Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a thrilling contest.
The veteran player, who had lost in all four of his previous first-round appearances, implied this breakthrough could have “opened the floodgates to a billion” darts players from his homeland.
“I don’t know today. I’m overwhelmed, I’m thrilled,” Kumar stated. “Dream big, anything is possible. I’ve dreamed of this ever since I watched Dennis Priestley win the World Championship.”
He joked with a light-hearted warning: “I’m sorry, a decade from now if you have eight people in the world championship walking on to Indian film songs, you know who started it.”
Other Opening Day Action
- Darren Beveridge: The Scottish debutant made an convincing start, averaging 91.62 in a dominant 3-0 win over Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh, who won just one leg.
- Jonny Tata: Another first-timer, from New Zealand, dashed the hopes of world No. 27 Ritchie Edhouse with a resounding 3-0 victory.
- Dom Taylor: The other newcomer beat Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak by the same 3-0 margin.
- Joe Cullen: The world No. 32 was in excellent touch as he eased past Bradley Brooks 3-0.
- Wesley Plaisier: The Dutch player overcame Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1.
- James Hurrell: Concluded the evening's play with a 3-1 victory over American Stowe Buntz.
