Stephen Bunting Endures Significant Test as The Indian pioneer Makes A Landmark for Indian Darts.
The tournament's fourth seed survived a monumental scare to advance into the next stage of the prestigious tournament on Sunday.
The Merseysider, who was a beaten semi-finalist last year, was pushed all the way to a dramatic fifth leg by Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki before securing a hard-fought victory at Alexandra Palace.
An Eventful Battle
Bunting began in blistering fashion, averaging an incredible 119.4 en route to powering through the opening set. The win appeared certain after hitting a spectacular 160 finish to seize the second set.
However, ‘The Bullet’ cooled off, and he won just one leg over the subsequent two sets. This let Bialecki – who remained unfazed even when a wasp settled on his shoulder – to square the match. Bunting regained his composure in the decider, but was still taken to the wire before taking it 4-2.
“Competing at this venue you go through all the feelings,” Bunting explained to broadcasters. “I knew Sebastian was going to be tough and even at 2-0 he never gave in. I am lucky to come through that one.”
Kumar Secures Historic Win
Bunting's second-round foe will be 'The Royal Bengal', who created a landmark by becoming the first Indian winner at the tournament. He overcame the Netherlands' Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a closely-fought match.
The veteran player, who had been defeated in all four of his prior first-round matches, implied this landmark win could have “created a pathway to a billion” darts players from India.
“I’m lost for words today. I’m emotional, I’m delighted,” Kumar stated. “With belief, anything is possible. This vision motivated me ever since I saw Dennis Priestley win the World Championship.”
He joked with a humorous prediction: “I’m sorry, a decade down the line if you have multiple players in the world championship entering to Bollywood music, you know who started it.”
Additional Opening Day Results
- Darren Beveridge: The Scotland's debutant made an impressive 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 defeated 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 Dutchman beat Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1.
- James Hurrell: Concluded the evening's play with a 3-1 victory over American Stowe Buntz.
