Stephen Bunting survived a scare before the No 4 seed progressed into the second round of the world championship on Sunday.
Bunting, a semi-finalist last year, was taken to a tie-breaker by Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki before edging through 3-2 at Alexandra Palace.
The Merseysider was pegged back after making a superb start and averaging 119.4 as he powered through the first set. Victory had seemed within his grasp as he recorded a 160 checkout on his way to taking the second set.
Bunting cooled, however, and won just one leg over the next two sets, allowing Bialecki – oblivious to a wasp that landed on his shoulder – to pull back level. Bunting recovered his composure in the fifth leg but was still taken to the wire before winning it 4-2.
“When you are playing at Ally Pally you go through all the emotions,” Bunting told Sky Sports. “I knew Sebastian was going to be tough and even at 2-0 he never gave in.
“I am lucky to get away with that one. I need to regroup, get back on the practice board and make sure I am ready for the next game.”
His second-round opponent will be Nitin Kumar, who became the first Indian winner at the event when he defeated the Dutchman Richard Veenstra 3-2 earlier in the day. The 40-year-old had lost in all four of his previous first-round encounters, but this time he made history and suggested the victory could have “opened the floodgates to a billion” darts players from India.
“I don’t know what to say right now. I’m overwhelmed, I’m happy,” Kumar said. “If you dream it, anything is possible. I’ve dreamed of this ever since I saw Dennis Priestley win the world championship [in 1994].
“I’m sorry, 10 years down the line if you have eight people in the world championship walking on to Bollywood music, don’t blame me.”
Scotland’s Darren Beveridge made an impressive world championship debut as he averaged 91.62 en route to a convincing 3-0 win against Dimitri Van den Bergh. His Belgian opponent won just one leg in the one-sided encounter.
“This is absolutely fantastic,” Beveridge said. “I dreamed of this when I was 13 years old and 19 years later I’m managing to win games on this stage. This is one of the greatest days of my life and I cannot believe it, honestly.”
New Zealand’s Jonny Tata, another debutant, ended the hopes of the world No 27 Ritchie Edhouse 3-0 and fellow newcomer Dom Taylor saw off Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak by the same scoreline.
Joe Cullen, the world No 32, was in good form as he eased past Bradley Brooks 3-0. The Dutchman Wesley Plaisier beat Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1, while in the final match of the evening James Hurrell saw off America’s Stowe Buntz 3-1.
