Nitin Kumar has become the first Indian player to win a match at the World Darts Championship, defeating Richard Veenstra in a five-set thriller at Alexandra Palace. The 40-year-old, known as 'The Royal Bengal', sealed his spot in the second round with nine of 12 doubles, brushing off five ton-plus checkouts from his opponent.
Kumar now faces a glamour tie against world number four Stephen Bunting on Saturday evening. Bunting narrowly escaped his first-round match against Sebastian Bialecki, squandering a two-set lead and needing a tiebreak in the deciding set to win 3-2.
Born in Chennai and based in Dubai, Kumar began playing darts at age ten. He represented India at the 2011 WDF World Cup and the PDC World Cup of Darts in 2014 and 2015. After first-round losses in 2019, 2020 and 2022, he won his first set at the championship last year but still lost. This year, he finally secured his maiden victory.
Kumar credited the 'Luke Littler boom' for increasing darts interest in Dubai, where he works. 'The dream was always to be a world champion... To give it my all... it was wonderful,' he said. 'Hopefully this will open the floodgates to a billion players from India.' He added that he knows he can play better and will work on consistency.
Bunting, who previously beat Kumar 6-2 in legs at the Bahrain Darts Masters in January, said he 'loves Kumar to bits' and called him a fantastic player. 'What he's done for Indian darts is exceptional,' Bunting added.
