Stephen Bunting Weathers Major Fright as 'The Royal Bengal' Makes History for India.
The tournament's fourth seed survived a monumental scare to progress into the second round of the world darts championship on the opening weekend.
'The Bullet', who reached beaten semi-finalist last year, was forced all the way to a final-set shootout by Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki before finally clinching a 3-2 victory at Alexandra Palace.
A Rollercoaster Battle
Bunting stormed out of the blocks, averaging an incredible 119.4 as he powered through the first set. He looked in total control after landing a spectacular 160 finish to seize the second set.
Nevertheless, ‘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 settled on his shoulder – to draw level. Bunting steadied himself in the final set, but was still taken to the wire before taking it 4-2.
“Competing at Alexandra Palace you experience all the feelings,” Bunting stated on Sky Sports. “I was aware Sebastian was going to be difficult and even at 2-0 he kept fighting. I am lucky to come through that one.”
Kumar Makes Historic Win
Bunting's next opponent will be 'The Royal Bengal', who created a landmark by becoming the initial victor from India at the championship. He overcame Dutchman Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a closely-fought match.
The veteran player, who had lost in all four of his previous first-round appearances, suggested this breakthrough could have “created a pathway to a billion” darts players from his homeland.
“I don’t know right now. I’m emotional, I’m happy,” Kumar expressed. “If you dream it, anything is achievable. This was my dream ever since I watched Dennis Priestley win the World Championship.”
He joked with a light-hearted prediction: “I’m sorry, a decade in the future if you have eight people in the world championship entering to Bollywood music, you know who started it.”
Other First-Round Action
- Darren Beveridge: The Scottish debutant made an convincing start, averaging 91.62 in a one-sided 3-0 win over Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh, who managed just one leg.
- Jonny Tata: Another debutant, from New Zealand, dashed the hopes of world No. 27 Ritchie Edhouse with a resounding 3-0 victory.
- Dom Taylor: The fellow newcomer beat Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak by the identical 3-0 scoreline.
- Joe Cullen: The world No. 32 was in excellent touch as he eased past Bradley Brooks 3-0.
- Wesley Plaisier: The Dutchman beat Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1.
- James Hurrell: Rounded off the evening's play with a 3-1 victory over American Stowe Buntz.