Nitin Kumar has once again secured his place at the PDC World Darts Championship. "The Royal Bengal" dominated the Indian qualifier this weekend and had already banked enough points after two of the three events to lock in his ticket to Alexandra Palace.
The Indian qualifier featured three separate tournaments, with two played on Saturday and one scheduled for Sunday. Kumar didn't need that final day. He won both Saturday events. Kumar made a commanding start in the first qualifier. He didn't drop a single leg in his opening three matches. He then beat Deep Kumar Shaw 4-1 and Vikash Kothari 4-2 to reach the semi-finals. There, Kumar produced his best display of the first event. With an average of 80.81, he left Shashank Agarwal no chance: 5-0. In the final, Kumar wrapped up his first title of the day by defeating Chirag Daga 5-2.
A few hours later, Kumar simply picked up where he left off. In his first four matches of the second qualifier, he again didn't lose a single leg. Amar Pratapsingh Hawaldar did nick one leg, but went out 4-1. The semi-final brought Kumar his first real test of the day. Agarwal was once more the opponent, but again Kumar prevailed. A 5-2 win sent him into back-to-back finals. There, "The Royal Bengal" had to go the distance against Vikehelie Suohu. Kumar edged a tense decider 5-4 and, with an 85.86 average, posted his highest mark of the day.
By winning both Saturday qualifiers, Kumar had collected enough points to skip Sunday's third event. His sixth appearance at the World Darts Championship was confirmed. Kumar had already made history for India on his previous visit to Alexandra Palace. After four first-round exits at the Worlds, he claimed his maiden win last year. He beat Richard Veenstra 3-2 to become the first Indian ever to win a match at the World Darts Championship. Stephen Bunting then proved too strong in round two, winning 3-0. This year, Kumar gets another chance to shine for India on the sport's biggest stage.
