Alexandra Palace wasp takes centre stage as Stephen Bunting beats Sebastian Biakecki in thriller

Stephen Bunting has survived a PDC World Championship first round thriller in a match on Sunday night that saw opponent Sebastian Bialecki play the second half of the contest with the Alexandra Palace wasp on his shirt.

Number four seed Bunting went from two sets up to on the brink of defeat to the 22-year-old Pole who largely produced a nerveless performance.

Bunting averaged in excess of 119 to win the first set and looked well on his way to victory when doubling that advantage, helped by a 160 checkout.

However, Bialecki capitalised on a substantial drop-off in form from his opponent to level the contest and move 2-1 up in the deciding set.

Alexandra Palace wasp spends half of match on Bialecki

The Ally Pally wasp is on Sebastian Bialecki's side. More specifically, his shoulder. ? pic.twitter.com/ZK9JGS02V8

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 14, 2025

This was achieved with Bialecki seemingly oblivious that he had a wasp - part of Alexandra Palace folklore - on his shoulder and on his collar.

Not until midway through the decider did Bialecki react and swat away the insect, much to the amusement of the crowd.

At the same time, Bunting was regaining the momentum, and having hit a fifth maximum of the final set to move into a 3-2 lead, he swiftly wrapped up the contest in the next leg to set up a showdown with Indian qualifier Nitin Kumar.

Earlier in the evening, two-time PDC major champion Dimitri van den Bergh became the biggest casualty of the tournament so far as he went down 3-0 to debutant Darren Beveridge.