'The Bullet' Endures Significant Fright as Nitin Kumar Secures A Landmark for Indian Darts.

The tournament's fourth seed survived a monumental scare to progress into the next stage of the prestigious tournament on Sunday.

The Merseysider, who reached losing semi-finalist last year, was forced all the way to a deciding tie-breaker by Polish qualifier Sebastian Bialecki before finally clinching a hard-fought victory at the iconic Ally Pally venue.

An Eventful Battle

Bunting stormed out of the blocks, averaging an incredible 119.4 to power through the first set. Victory seemed assured after landing a spectacular 160 finish to seize the second set.

However, ‘The Bullet’ cooled off, and he managed just one leg over the subsequent two sets. This let Bialecki – who remained unfazed even when a wasp landed 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 Ally Pally you go through all the emotions,” Bunting told Sky Sports. “I knew Sebastian was going to be a challenge and even at 2-0 he never surrendered. I am lucky to get away with that one.”

Kumar Secures Groundbreaking Win

Bunting's second-round foe will be 'The Royal Bengal', who made history by becoming the first Indian winner at the championship. He overcame the Netherlands' Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a thrilling contest.

The 40-year-old, who had been defeated in all four of his previous first-round matches, remarked this landmark win could have “created a pathway to a billion potential” darts players from his homeland.

“I don’t know right now. I’m ecstatic, I’m happy,” said Kumar. “If you dream it, anything is possible. I’ve dreamed of this ever since I saw Dennis Priestley win the World Championship.”

He added with a light-hearted prediction: “I’m sorry, ten years in the future if you have eight people in the world championship walking on to Bollywood music, you know who started it.”

Other Opening Day Results

• Darren Beveridge: The Scotland's debutant made an convincing start, averaging 91.62 in a comprehensive 3-0 win over Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh, who won just one leg.
• Jonny Tata: Another debutant, from New Zealand, dashed the hopes of world No. 27 Ritchie Edhouse with a resounding 3-0 victory.
• Dom Taylor: The fellow newcomer saw off Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak by the identical 3-0 scoreline.
• Joe Cullen: The world No. 32 was in good form as he comfortably defeated Bradley Brooks 3-0.
• Wesley Plaisier: The Dutchman beat Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1.
• James Hurrell: Rounded off the evening's play with a 3-1 victory over America’s Stowe Buntz.