Defending World Masters champion Stephen Bunting managed to pull off an almighty comeback to clinch a 3-2 victory over William Borland as Rob Cross suffered a shock loss to William O’Connor.
Borland got off to an electric start and with it took out a sensational 140 checkout to break the throw and move into a 1-0 lead, a 130 checkout from Bunting then being nullified as the Scotsman took out 88 on the bullseye and then reeled in the Big Fish to move 2-0 up.
Despite falling so far behind, the world No 5 managed to battle back with some strong doubling and with the score level at 2-2, ‘The Bullet’ held his throw under pressure to go into the deciding leg with the throw
Bunting will play Peter Wright in the second round after the Scotsman won 3-2 in a battle against Kevin Doets, the two-time world champion taking out tops to clinch the deciding-leg victory.
