Viktor Tingstrom stunned reigning champion Stephen Bunting on the opening night of the Mr Vegas Nordic Darts Masters in Copenhagen, surviving seven match darts to pull off the upset that changed the bracket at once. Tingstrom, who became only the third Nordic and Baltic representative to win a match in the event since it began in 2021, now moves on to face Michael van Gerwen.
The result landed on the year's third World Series of Darts event at the Forum Copenhagen and immediately became the headline of the night because it removed the defending champion before the tournament had properly settled. Bunting came in as the man to beat, but Tingstrom made the moment his own and turned a match that looked lost into the biggest win of his career on the stage. For a player who said he came here trying to enjoy it and did not want to put too much pressure on himself, the payoff was immediate. He also said he has had good memories in darts, but nothing can beat this at the moment.
Tingstrom's victory carried extra weight because it was not just a home-region surprise, but a rare one. Since the event began in 2021, only two other Nordic and Baltic players had managed to win a match in it, and Tingstrom joined that small group by holding his nerve through the closing darts. In a tournament built around top names, that alone made his result stand out. He put it simply after the match, saying he was happy to be the third Nordic and Baltic player ever through in the event and that he had tried to come in and enjoy it without carrying pressure.
Elsewhere on Friday, Michael van Gerwen beat Oskar Lukasiak 6-2 to set up the next test for Tingstrom, while Luke Humphries averaged 109.92 in a 6-0-style level of control against Jeffrey de Graaf, converting six of nine attempts at double. Gian van Veen also advanced after beating Daniel Larsson 6-3 with a 167 outshot, and Luke Littler beat Cor Dekker 6-1 with a 129 checkout before booking a quarter-final against James Wade. The night gave Copenhagen the upset it will remember, but it also underlined how quickly the top end of the draw is tightening around Tingstrom.
That leaves the most obvious question in the room: how far can he go now that the defending champion is gone? Van Gerwen waits next, and after surviving seven match darts to get there, Tingstrom has already done enough to change the tone of the event. The World Cup of Darts follows in Frankfurt from June 11-14, live on Sky Sports, but for one night in Copenhagen the story belonged to the player who said he was just trying to enjoy himself.
