Stephen Bunting overcame a huge scare to beat Sebastian Bialecki 3-2 and progress into the second round at the World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace in London
Stephen Bunting has confessed he escaped a massive scare and was “lucky” to edge past Sebastian Bialecki 3-2 and advance to the second round at the World Darts Championship.
World no. 4 Bunting raced into a commanding 2-0 advantage against Bialecki at Alexandra Palace, posting an average of over 119 in the opening set before wrapping up the second set with ease. Yet Bialecki, sitting 79th in the world rankings, fought back brilliantly to claim both the third and fourth sets, levelling the match at 2-2 and forcing a decisive final set.
The Polish player then moved 2-1 ahead in the fifth and concluding set, requiring just one more leg to seal victory. But Bunting squared the deciding set at 2-2, meaning both competitors needed to triumph by two or more legs, barring a 5-5 scenario.
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From that moment, Bunting seized command of the fifth set, though, claiming the fifth and sixth legs to secure the final set and earn his spot in the next stage of the Ally Pally competition.
Speaking afterwards, Bunting appeared thoroughly relieved. “When you play at Ally Pally you go through all the emotions,” he told Sky Sports reporter Abigail Davies.
“I knew Sebastian was going to be tough. Even at 2-0 up I knew he wasn’t going to give in and I am lucky to get away with that one to be honest. I need to regroup, get on that practice board and make sure I am ready for the next game.
“I heard Toby (my son) shout my name, I have got a great family, great support behind me. Even the Ally Pally wasp came back from the brink, so listen… these crowds are unbelievable. Thank you so much again and let’s go Bunting mental.
“That is the nervous one out of the way. I promise I will be better in the next round.”
Bunting is now set to face Nitin Kumar in the second round after the Indian darts player caused a major upset by defeating Richard Veenstra 3-2 on Sunday afternoon, marking his first victory on the Ally Pally stage.
In other results from the Sunday evening session in north London, Wesley Plaisier triumphed over Lukas Wenig 3-1, while Darren Beveridge pulled off a shock win against Dimitri van den Bergh with a clean sweep of 3-0.
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