Who is Nitin Kumar? The Indian darts sensation making history at Ally Pally

Kumar became the first Indian player in history to win a match at the World Darts Championship with his triumph over Richard Veenstra and now faces world No 4 Stephen Bunting in a blockbuster contest

Nitin Kumar made history int he first round at Ally Pally (Getty Images)

Move over Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, there’s a new Indian sporting superstar in town.

Truthfully that may be a slight exaggeration but a darting sensation has been born at Ally Pally this month, with Nitin Kumar becoming the first Indian player to win a match at the World Darts Championship.

Kumar created history when he beat Richard Veenstra in a five-set thriller last weekend, brushing off five ton-plus checkouts from Veenstra to seal his spot in round two thanks to some brilliant finishing – landing nine of his 12 shots at double.

Now, the 40-year-old faces a glamour tie against world No 4 Stephen Bunting on Saturday evening with a place in the third round at stake.

Kumar is a 10/1 underdog but Bunting can consider himself somewhat fortunate to still be in the tournament, having squandered a two-set lead over Sebastian Bialecki in his opening encounter and needing a tiebreak in the decider to sneak through 3-2. Here’s everything you need to know about the man nicknamed ‘The Royal Bengal’:

Who is Nitin Kumar?

Having been born in Chennai on 14 November 1985, with a hometown of Coimbatore, Kumar began playing darts as a 10-year-old. It has largely been a hobby for him throughout his life but he represented India at the 2011 WDF World Cup before doing likewise at the PDC World Cup of Darts in 2014 and 2015.

He first qualified for the World Championship in 2019, where he lost 3-0 to Jeffrey de Zwaan and was also whitewashed in the first round on the Ally Pally stage by Brendan Dolan in 2020 and Ricky Evans in 2022.

Last year, he won his first set a the World Championship at the fourth time of asking, but still lost 3-1 to Martin Lukeman, before stunning Veenstra with a 3-2 triumph on the opening weekend this time round.

Nitin Kumar celebrated in style after his historic first-round win (Getty Images)

The Indian darting sensation edged past Richard Veenstra 3-2 in a five-set thriller (Getty Images)

He credits the Luke Littler boom for increasing interest in darts in Dubai, where he’s based, and helping improve his standard.

“I play a lot of local tournaments back in Dubai, where I work, and my averages there are great, but no one sees that,” explained Kumar. “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. Match practice has affected me, but it’s different on the World Championship stage. It’s different at Ally Pally.”

Kumar’s walk-on song is Mundian To Bach Ke by Panjabi MC and it roused the Ally Pally crowd before his first-round win. Bunting may have the best walk-on in darts, so this evening’s clash should start in style.

What did he say after beating Veenstra?

Kumar fulfilled a dream by finally getting a win on the Ally Pally stage and hopes he inspired a potentially huge darting audience back home in India.

“I have been playing darts for close to 30 years,” said Kumar. “The dream was always to be a world champion.

“To give it my all, something I have never done at this level before and in front of that kind of crowd before, it was wonderful.

“Hopefully this will open the floodgates to a billion players from India. In 10 years’ time, if you have eight people in the World Championship walking on to Bollywood music or Punjabi, don’t blame me. It’s happening!”

The man nicknamed ‘The Royal Bengal’ now faces world No 4 Stephen Bunting (Getty Images)

What does he think about facing Bunting?

Kumar was keen not to get ahead of himself after his victory but is relishing the opportunity to challenge one of the genuine title contenders in round two.

“I am going to take it a game at a time,” he insisted. “I don’t think the game against Richard is the best that I have played. I know I can play better.

“Lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place. 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.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen but there will be 110 per cent effort from myself and I am going to give it my all, and we’ll see what happens.”

Bunting survived a first-round scare at Ally Pally (John Walton/PA Wire)

What has Bunting said about Kumar?

The only previous meeting between Bunting and Kumar came back in January at the Bahrain Darts Masters, which Bunting won 6-2 in legs

The world No 4 says he “loves Kumar to bits” and added: “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.

“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, the crowd will all be going Bunting Mental.”