CEBU, Philippines - National Darts Federation of the Philippines (NDFP) president Roberto “Tito” Soncuya foresees a resurgence of darts popularity in the Queen City of the South with the staging of the 1st M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala and Osmeña-Rama National Darts Open, which attracted over 200 top-caliber players from all over the country.
Soncuya said that several years back, darts is a thriving sport in Cebu until its fame slowly faded away due to various factors, chief of which is the lack of corporate backers.
Now that some private entities, specifically M. Lhuillier, have taken the initiative of bankrolling big events, Soncuya believes that it is a positive step towards bringing back the prominence of darts in this portion of the archipelago.
“This kind of event brings Cebu to the forefront of darting community,” said Soncuya during the opening of the three-day tilt last Friday night at Yayoy’s Grill and Resto Bar along Orchids Street in Brgy. Capitol Site, this city.
“Malamang babalik ang popularity ng darts dito sa Cebu especially with the new generation of players,” added Soncuya.
Soncuya, on the other hand, said darts could be easily embraced as a sporting career as it is a kind of sport that rises above people from all walks of life.
“The beauty of darts is that it transends classlines and backgrounds ng mga tao. Hindi kesyo mayaman ka ay magaling kana,” said Soncuya.
For his part, tournament host and City councilor Raul “Yayoy” D. Alcoseba elicited a big round of applause from the crowd when he announced that M. Lhuillier is bent on holding the event every year.
“I’ve talked to our boss Michel Lhuillier and he’s supportive to the idea of making this a yearly event. It’s going to be bigger and better next year,” said Alcoseba, himself a multi-awarded darts aficionado.
“We should throw our all-out support to darts because this is one of the very few sports wherein we don’t need height or weight requirements to excel in international competitions,” added Alcoseba.
Sanctioned by NDFP in partnership with the city government of Cebu and the Cebu City Hall Employees Darts Association (CHEDA) under the leadership of Bert Colong, Jr., the showdown at Yayoy’s Grill is by far the biggest and richest darts competition in Cebu in recent memory with up to P200,000 in cash prizes at stake.
The champion in the open singles 501 and 4-Person Team Lhuillier Cup 801 will take home P20,000 each. The overall winner in the draw triples 701 and draw doubles 501 will pocket P18,000 and P16,000, respectively.
Those who will make it to the top 16 will receive corresponding cash prize according to their rankings. (FREEMAN NEWS)