'The Bullet' Survives Major Fright as The Indian pioneer Makes History for Indian Darts.
The tournament's fourth seed survived a monumental scare to progress into the next stage of the world darts championship on the opening weekend.
Bunting, who reached losing semi-finalist last year, was pushed all the way to a dramatic fifth leg by Polish qualifier Sebastian Bialecki before finally clinching a hard-fought victory at Alexandra Palace.
A Rollercoaster Battle
Bunting made a flying start, averaging an incredible 119.4 to power through the first set. Victory seemed assured after checking out a spectacular 160 finish to seize the second set.
Nevertheless, his momentum stalled, and he won just one leg over the subsequent two sets. This enabled Bialecki – who remained oblivious even when a wasp landed on his shoulder – to square the match. Bunting steadied himself in the final set, but was still pushed to the limit before taking it 4-2.
“When you are playing at Alexandra Palace you feel all the feelings,” Bunting stated on broadcasters. “I was aware 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 next opponent will be Nitin Kumar, who made history by becoming the first Indian winner at the championship. He beat Dutchman Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a closely-fought match.
The veteran player, who had lost in all four of his previous first-round matches, implied this breakthrough could have “opened the floodgates to a billion potential” darts players from India.
“Words fail me right now. I’m emotional, 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 warning: “I’m sorry, ten years in the future if you have multiple players in the world championship walking on to Bollywood music, you know who started it.”
Further Opening Day Results
- Darren Beveridge: The Scottish debutant made an strong 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 commanding 3-0 victory.
- Dom Taylor: The other newcomer defeated Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak by the identical 3-0 scoreline.
- Joe Cullen: The world No. 32 was in excellent touch as he comfortably defeated Bradley Brooks 3-0.
- Wesley Plaisier: The Dutch player overcame Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1.
- James Hurrell: Rounded off the evening's play with a 3-1 victory over American Stowe Buntz.
