Stephen Bunting Survives Significant Fright as Nitin Kumar Secures History for India.
The tournament's fourth seed survived a monumental scare to progress into the next stage of the world darts championship on the opening weekend.
The Merseysider, who was a losing semi-finalist last year, was forced all the way to a deciding tie-breaker by Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki before securing a 3-2 victory at Alexandra Palace.
An Eventful Encounter
Bunting stormed out of the blocks, posting a superb 119.4 en route to powering through the first set. He looked in total control after hitting a spectacular 160 finish to claim the second set.
Yet, his momentum stalled, and he won just one leg over the next two sets. This let Bialecki – who remained oblivious even when a wasp settled on his shoulder – to square the match. Bunting regained his composure in the decider, but was still pushed to the limit before taking it 4-2.
“Performing at Ally Pally you go through all the emotions,” Bunting explained to Sky Sports. “I knew Sebastian was going to be difficult and even at 2-0 he never gave in. I am lucky to come through that one.”
Kumar Secures Landmark Victory
Bunting's next opponent will be Nitin Kumar, who achieved a first by becoming the initial victor from India at the tournament. He overcame the Netherlands' Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a closely-fought match.
The veteran player, who had lost in all four of his prior first-round matches, suggested this breakthrough could have “created a pathway to a billion” darts players from India.
“Words fail me today. I’m overwhelmed, I’m happy,” Kumar stated. “If you dream it, anything is achievable. This was my dream ever since I watched Dennis Priestley win the World Championship.”
He added with a humorous prediction: “I’m sorry, ten years in the future if you have multiple players in the world championship entering to Bollywood music, don’t blame me.”
Further First-Round Results
- Darren Beveridge: The Scotland's debutant made an convincing start, averaging 91.62 in a one-sided 3-0 win over Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh, who won just one leg.
- Jonny Tata: Another first-timer, from New Zealand, ended 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 identical 3-0 margin.
- Joe Cullen: The world No. 32 was in good form as he eased past Bradley Brooks 3-0.
- Wesley Plaisier: The Dutch player beat Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1.
- James Hurrell: Rounded off the evening's play with a 3-1 victory over America’s Stowe Buntz.
