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The tournament's fourth seed narrowly avoided an early exit to move into the second round of the prestigious tournament on the opening weekend.

The Merseysider, who was a beaten semi-finalist last year, was pushed all the way to a deciding tie-breaker by Polish qualifier Sebastian Bialecki before finally clinching a hard-fought victory at Alexandra Palace.

An Eventful Match

Bunting stormed out of the blocks, averaging an incredible 119.4 to power through the opening set. He looked in total control after hitting a spectacular 160 finish to seize the second set.

Nevertheless, ‘The Bullet’ cooled off, and he won just one leg over the subsequent two sets. This allowed Bialecki – who remained oblivious even when a wasp settled on his shoulder – to square the match. Bunting regained his composure in the decider, but was still pushed to the limit before taking it 4-2.

“When you are playing at Alexandra Palace you go through all the feelings,” Bunting stated on Sky Sports. “I was aware Sebastian was going to be difficult and even at 2-0 he never surrendered. I am fortunate to come through that one.”

Kumar Creates Groundbreaking Win

Bunting's second-round foe will be Nitin Kumar, who created a landmark by becoming the first Indian winner at the tournament. He overcame the Netherlands' Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a thrilling contest.

The veteran player, who had lost in all four of his prior first-round matches, remarked this breakthrough could have “opened the floodgates to a billion” darts players from his homeland.

“I don’t know today. I’m emotional, I’m delighted,” said Kumar. “If you dream it, anything is possible. This was my dream ever since I watched Dennis Priestley win the World Championship.”

He joked with a humorous prediction: “I’m sorry, a decade down the line if you have multiple players in the world championship walking on to Indian film songs, don’t blame me.”

Further Opening Day Action

• Darren Beveridge: The Scottish debutant made an impressive start, averaging 91.62 in a dominant 3-0 win over Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh, who won just one leg.
• Jonny Tata: Another first-timer, from New Zealand, ended the hopes of world No. 27 Ritchie Edhouse with a commanding 3-0 victory.
• Dom Taylor: The other newcomer beat Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak by the identical 3-0 scoreline.
• Joe Cullen: The world No. 32 was in good form as he eased past Bradley Brooks 3-0.
• Wesley Plaisier: The Dutch player overcame Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1.
• James Hurrell: Concluded the evening's play with a 3-1 victory over America’s Stowe Buntz.