Stephen Bunting kicked off his World Championship campaign with a 3-2 victory over young Pole Sebastian Bialecki.
‘The Bullet’ was on a mission at the Ally Pally as he raced to a two-set lead and looked certain to be cruising his way into the second round, but he was pegged back by the Pole and was made to slog the game out after losing his scoring power. The world No.4 had to send the game to tiebreaking legs to save his skin.
Bunting flew out the traps after another spine-tingling rendition of his walk-on song ‘Titanium’, raising the roof at the Palace. Last year’s semi-finalist started at a blistering pace, averaging a berserk 119.40 in the opening set, hitting four 180s, one 140 plus and six 100 plus visits. Bialecki himself put in a competitive showing, averaging a respectable 93.90, but it paled in significance to Bunting’s early onslaught.
But Bunting couldn’t keep up with his electric pace at the start of the second set, but just as he looked to be going through a dull patch, he pinned a 160 checkout to take a 2-1 lead on legs.
Bialecki was unable to find the bullseye for a 126 out to take the second set to a deciding leg, allowing Bunting to return and hit double six to take the set 3-1 again.
The Pole held his throw in the third set to take a one leg lead and broke ‘The Bullet’ before holding again to checkout 104 and win the set. Bialecki got himself on the scoreboard with three straight legs as Bunting went through another dip.
The St Helens thrower missed two darts at double eight to take the lead in the opening leg of the fourth set, seeing Bialecki return to break and pile the pressure on. Bunting was desperate for a spark as Bialecki won a fifth leg on the spin and managed to pin double five to end his wretched run.
Bunting was unable to piece together consistent darts and lost the following set, seeing Bialecki level the game at 2-2 and have the darts.
Needing something to rekindle his first set form, Bunting missed a dart at D11 to checkout 142, leaving the door open for Bialecki to return to win the leg and take the lead for the first time in the game. Finding the treble twice on 142 gave Bunting life as he started the following leg with four perfect darts, immediately levelling back before holding his nerve to send the game to tiebreaking sets.
Having to win by two clear legs in the tiebreaker, Bunting broke Bialecki’s throw and held to finally win the game he looked destined to have wrapped up 20 minutes earlier. Bunting’s average tumbled to 96.39 in the end, leaving plenty of questions that ‘The Bullet’ will have to answer before he next returns to the stage.
Speaking ahead of his first-round game, Bunting told the Daily Star Sport: “Preparation doesn’t start today – it started a month ago, to be honest.
“Mine started at the beginning of the season. I’ve had a great season, up to world number four, playing some of the best darts of my life. It’s about staying relaxed, feeling fresh, and going into the Worlds with a massive confidence boost.”
Bunting will play Nitin Kumar, who made history earlier on Sunday as the first Indian player to win a game at the World Championship, in the second round on Saturday, December 20.