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The tournament's fourth seed survived a monumental scare to move into the second round of the world darts championship on Sunday.

'The Bullet', who reached losing semi-finalist last year, was taken all the way to a dramatic fifth leg by Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki before finally clinching a hard-fought victory at the iconic Ally Pally venue.

A Turbulent Encounter

Bunting made a flying start, posting a superb 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 next two sets. This enabled Bialecki – who remained oblivious even when a wasp landed on his shoulder – to pull back. Bunting found his rhythm in the decider, but was still taken to the wire before securing it 4-2.

“Performing at Ally Pally you go through all the emotions,” Bunting stated on Sky Sports. “I knew Sebastian was going to be tough and even at 2-0 he never surrendered. I am fortunate to get away with that one.”

Kumar Secures Landmark Win

Bunting's next opponent will be Nitin Kumar, who achieved a first by becoming the first Indian winner at the event. He defeated the Netherlands' Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a thrilling match.

The veteran player, who had lost in all four of his previous first-round appearances, suggested this landmark win could have “opened the floodgates to a billion” darts players from his homeland.

“Words fail me at this moment. I’m emotional, I’m delighted,” Kumar expressed. “With belief, anything is achievable. I’ve dreamed of this ever since I watched Dennis Priestley win the World Championship.”

He concluded with a light-hearted warning: “I’m sorry, a decade from now if you have eight people in the world championship entering to Indian film songs, don’t blame me.”

Further Opening Day Action

• Darren Beveridge: The Scotland's debutant made an convincing start, averaging 91.62 in a one-sided 3-0 win over Belgium's 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 commanding 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 comfortably defeated Bradley Brooks 3-0.
• Wesley Plaisier: The Dutch player beat Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1.
• James Hurrell: Concluded the evening's play with a 3-1 victory over American Stowe Buntz.