Thursday, February 15, 2007 RP darts wizards shine in HK tilt
HONG KONG -- The Philippine National Darts Team has won the Men's Triples Championship Crown in the recently concluded Bullshooter III Asia in Hong Kong.
The Premier Electronic (Soft Tip) Darts competition, held last February 2 to 5 at the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Center, was organized by Asia Darts Association (http://www.asiadarts.com) and co-organized by Arachnid, European Darts Association, Bullshooter Japan, and Hong Kong Dart Association.
The members of the Philippine team were sponsored by Pier One Bar and Grill, Dartware, Toby's Sports, Burlington, and Globe Telecom. A Filipino-company-at-heart, Pier One Bar and Grill is an avid supporter of Filipino sportsmen who make Filipinos proud all over the world by excelling in the international sports scene.
The Philippine Men's Triples Champion team is composed of Rolando "Toto" Andrade of Tondo, Manila, Ramon Sabolboro of Laloma, Quezon City, and Lourence Ilagan of Parola, Cainta. During the finals against defending champion Germany, other Asian delegates cheered for their Asian bet, the Philippine Team, who eventually overwhelmed the German contingent. The woman member of the team is Rose Noble of Comembo, Makati City.
The Philippine team competed against over 400 of the best international players from 14 countries all over the world. Delegates came from the United States, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Portugal, Slovenia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea, and with the biggest team coming from Japan.
The Philippine National Team members also won other competitive events in the tournament. Andrade won third place in the Men's Single Top Gun event and fifth place in the Men's Single 501. En route to the finals, Andrade lost only to Johnny Kuczynski, the current US number one player. Kuczynski eventually won the Men's Singles finals.
Rose Noble won seventh place in the Women's Single 501 and ninth place in the Women's Top Gun while Lourence Ilagan won fifth place in the Men's Single Super One and ninth place in the Men's Single Top Gun.
Bullshooter III Asia organizer Joseph Kwong was so impressed with the Philippine team's performance that he has vowed to promote the sport in the country by staging the 1st Bullshooter Philippine Open with at least P1 million in prize money.
The Philippine delegates were sanctioned by the Darts Council of the Philippines (DCP) and assisted by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). Steve B. Dorotheo, DCP secretary general, headed the Philippine delegation and has been put in charge of the electronic darts wing of the DCP.
In a statement, DCP Congratulated the members of the Philippine team and noted that their outstanding performance "in this competition shows our enormous potential in the international sports of darts." Like billiards and boxing, "Filipinos are not disadvantaged by physical attributes such as height and weight in this sport," the DCP added.
Although electronic (soft tip) darts is not widely played locally, the Philippine darts team has proven to be globally competitive. Darts is currently the fastest growing indoor sport in the world, with electronic (soft tip) darts tournaments growing bigger in number of attendees and prizes every year. (Press release)
