World Darts Championship: Move over Sachin Tendulkar, India now have darting superstar Nitin Kumar making waves
Nitin Kumar is making a name for himself at the World Darts Championship, with the Indian trailblazer set to face Stephen Bunting next; you can watch the World Championship live on Sky Sports Darts all the way through until January 3 2026 at Alexandra Palace, London
Tuesday 16 December 2025 18:19, UK
Forget cricketing god Sachin Tendulkar, India have a new slinger in town with darting superstar Nitin Kumar making a name for himself at the World Darts Championship.
Kumar made history on the Alexandra Palace stage when he became the first Indian winner at the event when he beat Dutchman Richard Veenstra 3-2 to set up an intriguing encounter against world No 4 Stephen Bunting.
The 40-year-old had lost in all four of his previous first-round encounters, but his victory puts him in the last 64 of the competition and a shot at 'The Bullet' on Saturday.
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Kumar, who is nicknamed 'The Royal Bengal', gleamed: "I've been playing for 30 years, the dream was always to be world champion.
"My blood pressure is high, I'm going to get a heart attack. I love it."
Kumar is now hoping to inspire a generation after a historic win for India: "I've opened the floodgates to a billion of them. I'm sorry, in ten years down the line if you have eight people in the world championship walking on to Bollywood music, don't blame me, it's happening!"
The Indian cult hero had his local pub where he plays his darts up on their feet with his victory over Veenstra, but he's not stopping there as he prepares to face Bunting, who survived a major scare to overcome Sebastian Bialecki.
Dubai a hotbed for darts
"I play a lot of local tournaments back in Dubai, where I work, and my averages there are great, but no one sees that. Match practice has affected me, but it's different on the World Championship stage. It's different at Ally Pally."
Dubai has become a thriving darts hub with expats now taking on the sport because of the Luke Littler effect.
Kumar said. "Three or four days a week, you're playing darts. You're supposed to go there, work and save money - you can't. You're just playing darts all the time.
"There are lots of expats, lots of Asians, Filipinos, Scottish and British guys, loads of great players. Ex-county players come in every weekend and wipe the floor with me, so it's fun."
Sky Sports Darts' Laura Turner was impressed with the way Kumar maintained his composure despite five-ton checkouts from his Dutch opponent.
"It's about the stories that are created here at Alexandra Palace, and that is most definitely one that will live in our memories for quite some time," she said.
"What I was most impressed with was Nitin Kumar who before now had only won one set, and that only came last year at his fifth attempt.
"But it was the best version I've seen of Kumar up on the stage. He maintained that high standard, that exceptional finishing.
"And he was getting a barrage of big finishes coming against him, but the fact he could maintain his composure and get across the line made it all the more impressive."
Kumar is keen to stay grounded and focus on improving his game ahead of his clash with two-time semi-finalist Bunting. "Lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place," he said. "I'll take the positives, but I know I need to be more consistent on my triples. That's what I'll work on next time, no matter who I'm facing."
Bunting: I'm the people's champion
Despite huge support for Kumar, Bunting expects the majority of the spectators will still be on his side.
"I'm Stephen Bunting. I'm the people's champion, and they are all going to go Bunting Mental no matter what happens," said the St Helens thrower.
"The crowd's unbelievable. I think my YouTube channel's almost at 100,000 subscribers but I'm just a normal person. It's nice to be able to relate to the crowd and give something back to them people that I am normal.
"If that was the case [and the crowd goes against me], I'll have to deal with it. But I can't see that happening, to be honest.
"No matter who I play, I played Luke Littler on this stage last year, and had all the crowd on my side. I believe I've got the best fan base in darts.
"I've got the best social media in darts, I've got the best management in darts. I've got the best family in darts. The only thing I'm lacking is the World Championship, and it's coming this year."
The only previous meeting between Bunting and Kumar in January this year at the Bahrain Darts Masters, which Bunting won 6-2 in legs, and says he "loves Kumar to bits".
He said: "Nitin is a fantastic player. What he's done for Indian darts is exceptional. I've known him for quite a few years now, and we played each other in Bahrain. Luckily I was I was able to win that game," said Bunting.
"But the World Championship is so different. I'm really looking forward to playing. He had the crowd on his side in the first round, I'm sure that when we play next week, the crowd will all be going Bunting Mental."
Speaking on Behind The Oche, Glen Durrant said: "The impact for him and Indian darts is incredible. It was a brilliant moment.
"Bunting needs to show a bit of humility but two banging walk-ons."
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live all the way through until January 3 on Sky Sports' dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407 from December 10). Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
