Stephen Bunting survived a major scare to overcome Sebastian Bialecki and set up a showdown against Indian trailblazer Nitin Kumar on a dramatic day of action at the World Darts Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bunting came through the first tie-break of this year’s tournament at Alexandra Palace, fending off a valiant fightback from Bialecki to book his place in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world number four \u2013 aided by an average of 119 in the opening stanza \u2013 raced into a two-set lead, only for Bialecki to win six of the next seven legs and force a decider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bialecki led 2-1 in the fifth and decisive set, but Bunting regained his composure in the latter stages, firing in back-to-back 14-darters to prevail in a rollercoaster clash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“At 2-0 up, that was not the plan,”\u00a0quipped Bunting, a two-time semi-finalist at Ally Pally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I felt comfortable, I felt in control and for whatever reason I fell asleep.To go behind in the match was a travesty to be honest, but I’m so happy I was able to dig myself out of that hole and find a way to win. The fans were exceptional throughout the whole game. They really helped me through tonight.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bunting will now go head-to-head with Kumar, who also prevailed in a deciding-set thriller against Richard Veenstra to become the first player from India to triumph on the sport’s biggest stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kumar – roared on by a partisan crowd – defied five ton-plus finishes from Veenstra to celebrate a landmark victory, converting nine of his 12 attempts at double in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s not possible to put this into words. I love it, it was beautiful,”\u00a0revealed Kumar, featuring in his fifth World Championship campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve been playing darts for close to 30 years and the dream was always to be World Champion, but you need to take it one step at a time. I tried to give it my all and do something I’ve never done to this level and in front of that kind of crowd before; it was wonderful. Hopefully this will open the floodgates for darts in India. It has to inspire people!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunday’s double session also saw Joe Cullen produce a sparkling display against former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks, averaging 99.33 on his way to an emphatic straight-sets victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve been terrible all year, but this is where it matters,” declared the former Masters champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m happy with the performance. I finished well and scored well, so I can’t ask for much more to be honest. Something comes over me here. I’m just itching to get onto the stage, because this is the tournament that everyone remembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Darren Beveridge cruised through to round two on his Alexandra Palace bow, punishing a below-par display from Dimitri Van den Bergh to set up a showdown against Latvia’s Madars Razma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van den Bergh \u2013 a semi-finalist in 2022\/23 \u2013 missed 16 of his 17 darts at double, and Beveridge duly capitalised to wrap up a comprehensive straight-sets victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dom Taylor and Jonny Tata also enjoyed debuts to remember, overcoming Oskar Lukasiak and Ritchie Edhouse in straight sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taylor converted a hat-trick of ton-plus finishes in his demolition of Swedish star Lukasiak, while DPNZ number one Tata produced an impressive display to dump out 2024 European Champion Edhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Lukas Wenig was denied a win on his maiden World Championship appearance, succumbing 3-1 to Wesley Plaisier, who pinned 11 of his 20 attempts at double to cap off a clinical display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James Hurrell then rounded off Sunday’s play with a hard-fought 3-1 win against Stowe Buntz, condemning the American qualifier to a third consecutive defeat on the Alexandra Palace stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Darts Championship continues with another double session on Monday, as two-time champion Peter Wright opens his challenge for a third Sid Waddell Trophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wright will take on Women’s Series qualifier Noa-Lynn van Leuven for a place in round two, while fifth seed Jonny Clayton and 2009\/10 runner-up Simon Whitlock also enter the fray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS Stephen Bunting survived a major scare to overcome Sebastian Bialecki and set up a showdown against Indian trailblazer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-7203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Round One: <\/strong>Jonny Tata 3-0 Ritchie Edhouse (3-2, 3-1, 3-1); Dom Taylor 3-0 Oskar Lukasiak (3-0, 3-0, 3-1); Nitin Kumar 3-2\u00a0Richard Veenstra (3-1, 0-3, 3-2, 0-3, 3-1); Joe Cullen 3-0 Bradley Brooks (3-1, 3-0, 3-1); Wesley Plaisier 3-1 Lukas Wenig (3-0, 2-3, 3-2, 3-1); Darren Beveridge 3-0 Dimitri Van den Bergh (3-0, 3-1, 3-0); Stephen Bunting 3-2 Sebastian Bialecki (3-1, 3-1, 0-3, 1-3, 4-2); James Hurrell 3-1 Stowe Buntz (3-2, 1-3, 3-1, 3-2)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"