Stephen Bunting avoided a huge upset as he edged past Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki 3-2 in the first round of the World Darts Championship. Bunting squandered a 2-0 lead in sets after a superb start and was taken to the first extended deciding set at this year’s tournament, winning it 4-2 in legs.
‘The Bullet’ will next face India’s Nitin Kumar, who earlier became the first player from his country to win a match at the World Championship.
“Playing at Ally Pally you go through all the emotions. I was lucky to get away with that one,” Bunting told Sky Sports Darts. “I need to regroup, get back on the practice board, and get ready for the next game. I heard Toby [my son] shouting my name, I have got great support behind me, great family. That is the nervous one out of the way. I promise I will be better in the next round.”
Bunting came out of the blocks flying with a 119.40 average to claim the first set and produced some of his best darts in the last six months. He continued strongly in the second set with two ton-plus checkouts of 121 and 160. However, his level dropped and Bialecki won three legs in a row to take the third set, then broke early in the fourth to level the match and force the deciding set.
Bunting stepped up again with big scoring, and after holding throw to reach the tie-break (a two-clear-legs finish), he broke Bialecki’s throw in the fifth leg and finished on D18 to seal a place in round two.
Dimitri Van den Bergh’s difficult 2025 concluded with a first-round defeat to Scottish debutant Darren Beveridge as he was whitewashed 3-0. Van den Bergh had not played televised darts since April after taking a break to focus on his health and well-being, and only appeared in behind-closed-doors Players Championship events before the World Championship. Beveridge was impressive, losing just one leg in the match.
“You have got no idea, this is absolutely fantastic. I have dreamed of this since I was 13 years old,” Beveridge told Sky Sports Darts. “He has not been playing for a few months so it is hard to expect what he is going to do but he is Van den Bergh. This is one of the greatest days of my life.”
Other evening results saw Wesley Plaisier beat Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1 and England’s James Hurrell defeat American Stowe Buntz 3-1.
Afternoon highlights
– Nitin Kumar made history by becoming the first Indian to win a match at the World Championship, beating Dutchman Richard Veenstra 3-2 with 9/12 on the doubles. Kumar withstood five ton-plus finishes from Veenstra to advance.
– Joe Cullen produced his second-highest World Championship average in a commanding win over favourite Bradley Brooks, averaging 99, hitting five maximums and a high checkout of 116, winning nine of the 11 legs.
– Debutant Dom Taylor impressed with a straight-sets victory, restricting Oskar Lukasiak to one leg and landing three ton-plus checkouts (114, 110 and 100).
– Jonny Tata defeated former European champion Ritchie Edhouse 3-0 on debut, becoming the first New Zealander to win at the Worlds since Cody Harris in 2019.
Evening session results (Sunday December 14)
– Lukas Wenig 1-3 Wesley Plaisier
– Dimitri Van den Bergh 0-3 Darren Beveridge
– Stephen Bunting 3-2 Sebastian Bialecki
– James Hurrell 3-1 Stowe Buntz
What’s next?
Day 5 (Monday) at the World Darts Championship features a double session live on Sky Sports Darts. Afternoon matches: Brendan Dolan vs Tavis Dudeney, Cameron Menies vs Charlie Manby, Mensur Suljovic vs David Cameron, and Peter Wright vs Noa-Lynn van Leuven. Evening session from 7pm: Martin Lukeman vs Max Hopp, Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Andy Baetens, Jonny Clayton vs Adam Lipscombe, and Connor Scutt vs Simon Whitlock.
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