Stephen Bunting Survives Huge Scare as 'The Royal Bengal' Creates History for Indian Darts.
Stephen Bunting narrowly avoided an early exit to advance into the next stage of the world darts championship on Sunday.
'The Bullet', who was a beaten semi-finalist last year, was forced all the way to a final-set shootout by Polish qualifier Sebastian Bialecki before securing a hard-fought victory at Alexandra Palace.
A Rollercoaster Battle
Bunting stormed out of the blocks, averaging an incredible 119.4 as he powered through the opening set. The win appeared certain after landing a spectacular 160 finish to seize the second set.
Yet, ‘The Bullet’ cooled off, and he managed just one leg over the subsequent two sets. This enabled Bialecki – who remained unfazed even when a wasp landed on his shoulder – to square the match. Bunting regained his composure in the final set, but was still taken to the wire before taking it 4-2.
“Performing at this venue you experience all the feelings,” Bunting stated on broadcasters. “I knew Sebastian was going to be tough and even at 2-0 he never gave in. I am lucky to get away with that one.”
Kumar Makes Groundbreaking Victory
Bunting's second-round foe will be Nitin Kumar, who created a landmark by becoming the initial victor from India at the event. He beat the Netherlands' Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a closely-fought contest.
The veteran player, who had been defeated in all four of his prior first-round appearances, remarked this breakthrough could have “created a pathway to a billion” darts players from his homeland.
“Words fail me today. I’m ecstatic, I’m thrilled,” Kumar expressed. “Dream big, anything is achievable. This was my dream ever since I watched Dennis Priestley win the World Championship.”
He joked with a light-hearted warning: “I’m sorry, ten years from now if you have eight people in the world championship walking on to Indian film songs, you know who started it.”
Additional Opening Day Action
- Darren Beveridge: The Scotland's debutant made an strong start, averaging 91.62 in a one-sided 3-0 win over Belgium's Dimitri Van den Bergh, who managed just one leg.
- Jonny Tata: Another debutant, from New Zealand, ended the hopes of world No. 27 Ritchie Edhouse with a resounding 3-0 victory.
- Dom Taylor: The other newcomer saw off Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak by the same 3-0 margin.
- Joe Cullen: The world No. 32 was in fine fettle as he comfortably defeated Bradley Brooks 3-0.
- Wesley Plaisier: The Dutch player beat Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1.
- James Hurrell: Concluded the evening's play with a 3-1 victory over American Stowe Buntz.
