Former Masters champion Stephen Bunting only just avoided a major upset to move into round two at the 2026 Paddy Power World Darts Championship.

The world number four, who was a semi finalist here 12 months ago, raced into a two set lead against Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki. However, The Bullet struggled in sets three and four, losing them to the youngster, before being one leg away from becoming the biggest casualty of round one.

Bunting though produced some high scoring darts with the match on the line, eventually coming through a deciding set tiebreaker to take a 3-2 victory.

Joe Cullen had no such troubles though, as he won 3-0 against fellow Englishman Bradley Brooks, while former TV title winners Dimitri Van den Bergh and Ritchie Edhouse were both beaten in straight sets, by Darren Beveridge and Jonny Tata respectively.

There were also victories on day four of the Paddy Power World Darts Championship for Nitin Kumar, James Hurrell, Wesley Plaisier, and Dom Taylor.

Bunting only just beats Bialecki, Cullen crushes Brooks

The Bullet, backed by a huge number of the crowd inside Alexandra Palace, raced into a two set lead, winning both of them 3-1 and averaging nearly 105 at one point.

His level dropped in the third set though, and The Bolt pounced, reeling off the third stanza in just 46 darts, ending it with a 104 checkout. The Polish player then two advantage of two missed darts for leg one of set four from Bunting, hitting double 16 to break, and holding twice to force the match into a fifth and final set.

Bialecki found two holds of throw to go improbably within one leg of the match, but The Bullet found an extra gear when needed, hitting a crucial 180 on his way to pinging double 16 and force the first tie break scenario of the 2026 World Darts Championship.

Bunting then hit a 180 in leg five against the throw as Bialecki wilted under pressure, eventually breaking in 14 darts on double 16. He then eventually got over the line on double 18 in the next leg, ending a somewhat performance of two halves from the top seed in section two of the draw.

Cullen came into his match against Brooks having won just one match on TV in 2025. However, his straight sets win kept up his record of not losing his first match at Alexandra Palace since 2020.

Bam Bam took the opening leg of the match, but 52 darts later, Cullen found tops for three straight legs and a one set advantage.

The Rockstar continued the momentum in set two, taking just 40 darts to double his advantage as Brooks had no answer.

The young Englishman stopped the rot by winning the first leg of set three, but it then mirrored set one, as the former Masters winner reeled off three legs in 43 darts to move into round two, ending the contest with a 116 checkout.

Van den Bergh and Edhouse both sent packing

Former World Matchplay and UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh, playing in his first game on TV since the 2025 UK Open, ended a disappointing season with a 3-0 loss to Darren Beveridge.

The Dream Maker averaged just 80.64 and Ice Cold took full advantage, winning nine of the ten legs played as Van den Bergh hit 1/17 on the outer ring. Beveridge, on debut at the World Darts Championship, eventually finished the match with a 68 checkout and set up a round two tie with Madars Razma.

2024 European Champion Ritchie Edhouse also lost in straight sets to a debutant, in the shape of New Zealand’s Jonny Tata.

Madhouse went 2-0 up in the opening set, but then missed six darts to take it, as JT won the next three legs to go 1-0 up.

Those missed darts seemed to play on Edhouse’s mind throughout the rest of the contest, as he won just two more legs across the remaining two sets. The New Zealander won set two 3-1, and repeated the same score in set three to move into round two.

What else happened?

Nitin Kumar became the first Indian player to win a match at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship, beating Holland’s Richard Veenstra 3-2 where no player held throw in a set they had the darts.

Despite five ton plus outshots and throwing 6 180s, Veenstra did not win the crucial moments. The biggest came in the deciding leg of set three, where the Dutchman missed three set darts, which allowed Kumar to take out 78 for an 18 dart break to go 2-1 in front.

Veenstra won the fourth set 3-0, but Kumar reeled off the first two legs of set five, eventually winning the match with a 76 checkout in leg four of the deciding stanza.

James Hurrell fought past American Stowe Buntz, winning the last game of day four 3-1 in a tight and tense affair.

Both missed darts to win set one in the fifth leg, but Hillbilly eventually found double two to go in front. The Neon Nightmare though came back strong in set two, eventually taking it 3-1 by finding double five.

Hurrell broke in the third leg of the third stanza, and went one set away from the match 15 darts later. Buntz then won the first two legs of set four, but Hillbilly reeled off the next three legs, eventually pinging double 16 to end the contest.

Lukas Wenig, who made the Grand Slam quarter finals last month, lost on Alexandra Palace debut to Holland’s Wesley Plaisier.

Plaisier won the opening set 3-0, before Germany’s Wenig won set two in a deciding leg thanks to a 60 outshot. Five legs later, the Dutchman won set three thanks to a 25 checkout on double eight, before hitting an 84 finish to break in leg three of set four. 16 darts later, Plaisier completed the win, finding double nine to move into the round of 64.

Finally, Dom Taylor won on his Paddy Power World Darts Championship debut, beating Oskar Lukasiak 3-0.

The Tower won the first six legs of the match, clean sweeping both opening sets. Lukasiak found a 96 outshot to level set three at 1-1, but that would be the only leg he’d win of the contest, finishing one out of four on the checkouts. Taylor found back to back 15 darters, hitting double four both times to complete the straight sets win.

2026 Paddy Power World Darts Championship Day Four Results

Afternoon Session

Round One x4

Jonny Tata 3-0 Ritchie Edhouse

Dom Taylor 3-0 Oskar Lukasiak

Nitin Kumar 3-2 Richard Veenstra

Joe Cullen 3-0 Bradley Brooks

Evening Session 

Round One x4

Wesley Plaisier 3-1 Lukas Wenig

Darren Beveridge 3-0 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Stephen Bunting 3-2 Sebastian Bialecki

James Hurrell 3-1 Stowe Buntz