"Victory had seemed within his grasp as he recorded a 160 checkout on his way to taking the second set. Bunting cooled, however, and won just one leg over the next two sets, allowing Bialecki oblivious to a wasp that landed on his shoulder to pull back level. Bunting recovered his composure in the fifth leg but was still taken to the wire before winning it 4-2."
"I don't know what to say right now. I'm overwhelmed, I'm happy, Kumar said. If you dream it, anything is possible. I've dreamed of this ever since I saw Dennis Priestley win the world championship [in 1994]. I'm sorry, 10 years down the line if you have eight people in the world championship walking on to Bollywood music, don't blame me. I'm sorry, 10 years down the line if you have eight people in the world championship walking on to Bollywood music, don't blame me."
Stephen Bunting, the No 4 seed and last year's semi-finalist, edged past Poland's Sebastian Bialecki 3-2 in a tie-breaker at Alexandra Palace. Bunting produced a blistering start, averaging 119.4 and hitting a 160 checkout to take the first two sets, but then won only one leg across the next two sets as Bialecki fought back. Bunting steadied in the deciding set and clinched a 4-2 final set to progress. Nitin Kumar became the first Indian winner at the event, defeating Richard Veenstra 3-2 and advancing to face Bunting in round two.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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