'The Bullet' Weathers Major Test as The Indian pioneer Secures A Landmark for India.
The tournament's fourth seed survived a monumental scare to progress into the next stage of the world darts championship on Sunday.
'The Bullet', who was a beaten semi-finalist last year, was pushed all the way to a deciding tie-breaker by Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki before finally clinching a hard-fought victory at Alexandra Palace.
A Rollercoaster Encounter
Bunting stormed out of the blocks, averaging an incredible 119.4 en route to powering through the opening set. Victory seemed assured after landing a spectacular 160 finish to take the second set.
Yet, his momentum stalled, and he won just one leg over the next two sets. This enabled Bialecki – who remained oblivious even when a wasp settled on his shoulder – to pull back. Bunting regained his composure in the decider, but was still pushed to the limit before winning it 4-2.
“Performing at Alexandra Palace you feel all the feelings,” Bunting told Sky Sports. “I was aware Sebastian was going to be difficult and even at 2-0 he kept fighting. I am lucky to get away with that one.”
Kumar Secures Landmark Victory
Bunting's next opponent will be 'The Royal Bengal', who created a landmark by becoming the initial victor from India at the tournament. He beat the Netherlands' Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a closely-fought contest.
The 40-year-old, who had lost in all four of his prior first-round appearances, suggested this landmark win could have “opened the floodgates to a billion” darts players from India.
“Words fail me right now. I’m ecstatic, I’m thrilled,” Kumar stated. “With belief, anything is achievable. This was my dream ever since I watched Dennis Priestley win the World Championship.”
He concluded with a humorous prediction: “I’m sorry, ten years in the future if you have eight people in the world championship entering to Indian film songs, you know who started it.”
Other First-Round Results
- Darren Beveridge: The Scottish debutant made an convincing start, averaging 91.62 in a comprehensive 3-0 win over Belgium's 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 fellow newcomer defeated Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak by the same 3-0 margin.
- Joe Cullen: The world No. 32 was in good form as he comfortably defeated Bradley Brooks 3-0.
- Wesley Plaisier: The Dutchman overcame Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1.
- James Hurrell: Rounded off the evening's play with a 3-1 victory over American Stowe Buntz.
