Darterong Pinoy

Philippine Darts : A personal view

2011-01-30T21:28:00.001+08:00

By now, the darting world must have already took notice of Pinoy Darters. We've dominated Asian darts circuit for several years now but we have yet to produce a world Champion. This may be far-fetched but I know many of you agree with me on this. Those who have personally witnessed the talents of our fellow Pinoy darters would surely agree that soon we will have an Efren 'Bata' Reyes or a Manny Pacquiao in darts. It may not be so soon but who knows?
With this, let me give my insights on the building blocks to achieve this far-fetched goal. Of course, many would say, that practice is the key. Sure, hell! Practice is the main key! But I've already seen Pinoy darters with world-class skills. Maybe not at par with a Phil Taylor as yet but for sure they can put up a tough game versus those top notch darters. Lourence Ilagan almost did it! Ian Perez And Boy Gionzon and some others were almost there. But what really are the things that we need to have/do to improve our performance at international level? There are several things in my mind so please bear with me as I go through each of them. First, as I’ve cited in my older post, is the lack of funding for this sport. We can’t expect our Government to give this as we have more popular sports in the same predicament. So where can we expect the support then? This is where the local darts organization and sponsors come in. In this area, I commend NDFP (National Darts Federation of the Philippines) for their constant support to our Pinoy Darters. Then again this organizing body can only do so much, understandably. They also need sponsors to serve us better. Sending our top darters abroad is no joke let alone the sky-rocketing cost of airfares. So we need to improve to attract more sponsors minus the unscrupulous managers! Yes, some managers are horrible but I won’t dwell on that here (let me tackle that in another post ). That’s our fundamental issue. How do we now attract sponsors then? First, I think we need to have a central repository of darters statistics. NDFP has been tracking darters’ national rankings but needs to add darters’ game statistics to beef-up their database. I mean, statistics is statistics! Many would argue that some factors (e.g. quality of opponents, crowd/environment) have to be injected for the stats to be comparable to that of PDC or BDO for that matter. But that’s impossible! Not all darters are lucky enough to join and be seen in the international events so game statistics is the way to go! At least, they will now have a gauge of our darters’ skill sets.
The second point that I wanted to raise is the need to grow the darts market. Sponsors would surely get local signature players if they have a huge local market. You must be wondering why most of the American darters are signature players. I’m using American darters as comparison because I strongly believe that we can fairly compete with them (See my Shanghai International Darts Championship entry). Darts is growing in Asia, yes. NDFP is capitalizing on this – they are in the right track as far as promulgating darts as a sport in our country is concerned. Grassroots is the key! This is the very reason why NDFP is reaching out to Barangay level to promote darts. Lastly, we need to be united as darters! Those unscrupulous and self-serving individuals do not have a place in Philippines’ darts scene. They thrive because we feed their arrogance and personal agenda! Take a stand Darterong Pinoy! Mabuhay tayong lahat!

Juanito "Boy" Gionzon bows to Gary Mawson in a very exciting match

2010-12-17T04:49:00.007+08:00

Boy Gionzon showed what he's made of but came off short to the more experienced Gary Mawson 4 games to 1. Gionzon showed very solid darts (90.81 average) while Gary Mawson displayed awesome darts at 92.44 average with superb outing percentage!With Gionzon's performance, the world took notice once again that Philippines is an emerging dart phenom! Congratulations Boy! You've made us proud again!
http://justin.tv/live_sport9/b/275811837

Lourence Ilagan,Dixie Ybanez out in Philippine Qualifier to World Darts Championship

2010-10-17T19:06:00.010+08:00

The top 32 Final Elimination of the Philippine Qualifier to World Darts Championship started yesterday at Ambassador Hotel in Manila. The top 8 from different locations all over the Philippines met yesterday as they played round robin enroute to final selection today. Among the top 16 who emerged from last night's round robin round were : (in no particular order)
1. Jun Espional (Cagayan de Oro "The One")
2. Enlindo "JunJun" Bayawa Jr. (Zamboanga del Norte)
3. Henry Rivera (Cagayan de Oro "Fundador")
4. Bert Lozano (Cagayan de Oro "Fundador")
5. Nathaniel "Nats" Guba (Iligan City)
6. Andy Villamor (Butuan City)
7. Ian Perez (Koronadal City)
8. Arvy Briones (Baguio City)
9. Ding Sumolong (Pasig City)

10. Boy Gionzon (Navotas City)
11.. Boie Parfan (Makati City)
12. Jaypee De Tablan (Taytay,Rizal)
13. Mon Oliveros (Makati City)
14. Ricky Mijares (Quezon City)
15. Chris Salinas (Makati City)
16. Robert Calupit (Bullshooter)

I had the chance to visit the venue this afternoon before the elimination started and had a quick chitchat with my hometown neighbor darter, Henry "Kiko" Rivera. It was from hin that I learned that Dixie Ybanez and Lourence Ilagan (top 2 in my recent poll) were no longer in the top 16.

The games started at around 1pm and I had the chance to see the first matches for the top 16 round robin. Great to highlight was the game of Boie Parfan who scored T,T80,T80,51 (11-darter) during his first game against Ian Perez who eventually bowed to him at a score of 3-2. It's also worth mentioning that my neighbor, Henry Rivera, crushed Ding Sumulong at a score of 3-0 (the only 3-0 score in the first top 16 round robin matches).

Philippine Qualifier to the 2011 World Darts Championship

2010-09-10T21:47:00.008+08:00

It's been a while since I last posted an article here in my site. It's been also a while since I last played darts as I'm currently into running and biking. But my love of darts has always been there. NDFP's forum is a must visit each time I surf the net. I miss my darter friends although I've been seeing them lately to chat and play some good darts. And as expected, I bowed to them in the dart matches. It's always fun to play with them again after a long break from darts. It's also from them that I get to hear news about darting in the Philippines. Just last week, I was told that a big event will be staged in Manila as part of the Philippine Qualifier to 2011 World Darts Championship. And this time around, the dormant DCP (Darts Council of the Philippines) is running the show. Well, I really did not understand why at first until I saw the article posted at ndfpdarts.com. I won't tackle that in this entry but I would love to write about it pretty soon.
Going back to the topic, the selection process is really quite different this time around. The qualifying event will start with four regional qualifiers - Manila,Olongapo City, Cebu City, and Cagayan de Oro City. Top 8 from 4 qualifying legs (top 32) will advance into the National Finals which will be staged at NU Grille,Ambassador Hotel,Mabini St.,Manila. The regional qualifying legs should give a better chance to those who are in the province to participate in the selection process. I just hope, though,that DCP will be able to pull this through considering that didn't stage any national/regional events for quite some time now. It would even be challenging for them as NDFP with partnership of Solar Sports has set the standards on how a qualifying event or any darts tournament for that matter should be run. The challenge for them (DCP) is to stage a fair and smooth selection process as the darts world will be watching them closely. I hope that darters, DCP and NDFP alike, will come out and participate this event. May the BEST pinoy darter win and represent our beloved Philippines to the 2011 World Darts Championship. Good Luck mga DARTERONG PINOY!!!

Click here for tournament details.

C-5 at Taga!

2010-02-02T23:14:00.005+08:00

I was practicing darts when I overheard this analysis by Winnie Monsod over national TV. Like most Filipinos, I'm one of those who keenly watched and monitored the proceedings of this issue in senate sessions. However, I was so disappointed with how the senators, both pro and against Villar, presented their facts. The real score wasn't clear to me until I had watched Mareng Winnie's crystal clear analysis. Winnie Monsod hit the target right in the bull's eye! I'm sharing this clip in this blog hoping to help fellow Filipinos know the REAl score.
I'll end this post by quoting Mareng Winnie in saying "Is Manny Villar blameless?"..."Is the Pope protestant?"...

"The 2009 Shanghai International Darts Open" - an article from Dartoid's world

2010-01-30T13:36:00.003+08:00

"If the Filipinos were regulars on the American circuit they would rock the American Darts Organization’s (ADO) rankings. If they had the sponsorship to regularly play the PDC circuit the darts world be shocked. "

Perez bowed to Thornton (3-1)

2009-12-19T08:09:00.005+08:00

Perez' dream was halted by Robert Thornton in a rather great game at the Ally Pally today. Perez was impressive in the first set firing several T40's and T00's until Thornton found his mark and started putting pressure on Perez. Perez, being his first time in the Ally Pally, was feeling the pressure as his darts can't find its target. The match could have ended differently should Perez took out D8 to give him a 2-1 lead. Thornton, who was also strugling on the double, made sure he'd take out D4 for the advantage. The last set saw Ian a bit down but still managed to pull out a leg over the world ranked number 16 Robert Thornton. The match ended at 3 sets to 1 for Thorton.

Ian Perez has nothing to be ashamed of. His feat was yet another first in the Philippine darts history. Some more international exposure and Philippines will surely have a World Darts Champion! We're getting there..Slowly but surely! Congrats Ian Perez! Mabuhay ang Darterong Pinoy!

Perez beats Per Laursen

2009-12-19T04:37:00.006+08:00

Christian Perez showed his great form to beat the veteran player Per Laursen of Denmark 4 legs to 3 in the best of 7 preliminary round of 2010 World Darts Championship. It was a great performance of Perez who averaged 94.53 and a perfect checkout rate (6/6). Perez hit two 180's, eight 140's, and four 100's and sealed the deciding game with a 12-darter to face Robert Thornton in round 1. The world once again was shocked in the way Perez devastated the highly favored veteran. Let us keep our fingers crossed and hope that Perez can handle Thornton to secure himself a second round slot.

Dixie Ybanez wins Philippine International Darts Open

2009-12-08T08:06:00.004+08:00

Dixie Ybanez, a veteran darter from Cagayan de Oro, emerged as the Champion of the recently concluded Philippine International Darts Open.

Other winners (Open Singles) :

2nd : Emil Manga

Joint 3rd: Boy Gionson/Boy Ulang

Congratulations!

Lourence Ilagan wins the 5M Manny Pacquiao International Darts Classic- Men's Singles Event

2009-12-01T07:16:00.006+08:00

The Winmau World Masters semi-finalist, Lourence "The Gunner" Ilagan, proved once again that he's the MAN in Philippine darts by trouncing Junjun Bayawa (8 to 1) in the recently concluded 5M Manny Pacquaio International Darts Open held in Lagao Gymnasium General Santos City. Ilagan pocketed 700,000 pesos for this win while Bayawa walked home with 320,000 pesos. This is Ilagan's second national title in succession this year after winning the Championship over Ian Perez in the Darterong Pinoy tournament last month.

The 5M Manny Pacquaio International Darts Open and Darterong Pinoy are just two of the big tournaments under National Darts Federation of the Philippines (NDFP).

Ian Perez faces Per Laursen in the Preliminary Round of the 2010 World Darts Championship

2009-11-30T22:55:00.010+08:00

The preliminary round draw has already been made and Christian "Ian" Perez is set to face a formidable opponent in the person of Per Laursen from Denmark. Laursen is not new to the PDC World Championship as he has represented Denmark for 3 consecutive years since 2007. In 2007, he came past the first round at the expense of Colin Monk (3-0) but eventually dispatched by Dennis "The Menace" Priestley in the second round. His last two outings in the PDC World Championship were not so brilliant as he only reached the first round losing to Alan Tabern and Wes Newton in 2008 and 2009 respectively. But make no mistake about his darting skills as he has had some success in tournaments in his home country. His resume is a proof that it will not be a walk in the park for Ian Perez in the prelims. Perez should be bringing out the best in his arsenal early on to thump Per Laursen en route to the next round.

Preliminary Round Draw (Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship)

Per Laursen (Denmark) v Christian Perez (Philippines)
Ken MacNeil (Canada) v Norman Madhoo (Guyana)
Jarkko Komula (Finland) v Roman Konchikov (Russia)
Haruki Muramatsu (Japan) v Kryzsztof Kcuik (Poland)
Tomas Seyler (Germany) v Chinese Qualifier
Magnus Caris (Sweden) v Francisco Ruiz (Spain)
Aodhagan O'Neill (Ireland) v Les Francis (South Africa)
Phillip Hazel (New Zealand) v Osmann Kijamet (Slovenia)

Having fun with Darts

2009-11-27T09:23:00.002+08:00

Sharing a video from youtube. Enjoy!

Darts? Nah...Boxing this time...

2009-11-24T21:01:00.005+08:00

As much as I wanted to write about Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto fight, I chose to keep my thoughts private since I don't see it appropriate to do so. Aside from boxing being irrelevant to this blog site, I am simply uncomfortable writing or posting anything pertaining to boxing.
Forgive me for this post....I just can't help but to share this video about a foreigner appreciating Manny Pacquaio's recent performance against Miguel Cotto. (I hope that one day, someone from England will do the same to one of our Pinoy Darters.) Enjoy!

Ian Perez wins Philippine Qualifier to the World Darts Championship

2009-11-13T20:12:00.004+08:00

Read the full article from NDFP's website here.

Cristian "Ian" Perez wins Philippine Qualifier to the World Darts Championship

2009-11-08T19:47:00.004+08:00

Christian "Ian" Perez defeated Rizal "Jojo" Barellano in the deciding game to seal his spot in the World Darts Championship on December 18, 2009 - January 3, 2010 at Alexandra Palace, London, England. Perez is currently the ranked # 2 of NDFP who was a runner-up in Shanghai International Darts Open last October.

Congratulations Ian Perez !!!

Philippine Qualifier to the World Darts Championship Update

2009-11-08T13:20:00.010+08:00

Any moment from now, NDFP (National Darts Federation of the Philippines) will officially announce the Philippines' representative to the World Darts Championship in Alexandra Palace, London, England. The qualifying event will be finally concluded today as scheduled. Several darters from around the nation bear witness of the qualifying event as it was staged together with the free-registration Darterong Pinoy tournament. Yesterday, the top ten qualifiers went of round robin format to determine the top 4 who will go through a step ladder for the finale of the event. Adding new blood in the top ten is the 2-time National Youth singles Champion, Jaypee Detablan (UDT), who showed class in his form beating veteran darters with a lone loss to Jojo Barellano. Sadly, he won't be allowed to advance to the next phase of the competion owing to a violation of playing agreement. Playing agreement number 1 states :

"1.. I understand that it is mandatory to furnish a readable copy of my valid passport with over 6 month expiration from December 18, 2009 upon reaching the Top 10 of the elimination round in anticipation of the limited visa processing time. I am fully aware that my failure to comply with this vital requirement negates any right from my side to participate and further continue the said competition;"

This unfortunate fate shouldn't bother the youngster since I am sure that we'll see more of him in the next years to come.

Oh, by the way, the Winmau World Masters semi-finalist Lourence "The Gunner" Ilagan did not see action in the Qualifying event. The reason was not publicly disclosed but I speculate that this has something to do with him participating in BDO sanctioned event. Same goes to Roland "Arvy" Briones who won two WDF-sanctioned events this year (2009 French and Korean Open respectively).

Newsfeed: Ian Perez (runner-up of the Shanghai International Darts Open) of Team Robson defeated a fellow Robson player, Celso "Boie" Parfan to advance to the Championship match against Rizal "Jojo" Barellano. Jojo Barellano was our first Wildcard to the World Darts Championship last 2008. It will be Jojo's second appearance at the Ally Pally should he win his match against Ian Perez.

Lourence "Gunner" Ilagan's signature dart pins by Monter Darts

2009-11-02T01:39:00.005+08:00

Finally, I got my set of Lourence Ilagan's signature pins. I have been desperately looking for a set since I got to try one last May. Monster dart pins are actually made in England but were designed in Japan. The "Gunner" is being sold locally at around Php 4,500.00 but I got mine for a bargain. It's not actually brand new but it's just right for my budget. I've got this urge to collect dart pins which are designed for our Filipino players. Well, we only have two as yet but for sure more Filipino signature players will emerge soon.
My next plan is to purchase Freddie Deen's signature pins by Unicorn. This is now considered rare since Unicorn has already stopped producing this several years ago. If you know someone who sells one please do leave a message in the comment portion.

Shanghai International Darts Open - John Part Vs Ian Perez II

2009-10-31T11:11:00.003+08:00

A 15-darter from Ian Perez (Robson Player & NDFP's #2). 100-100-100-140-61

Pinoy Darters Top Korean Open

2009-10-29T12:19:00.004+08:00

Ronald "Arvy" Briones once again proved that he's among the top Asian darters as he emerged Champion in Korean Open Singles last October 25,2009. An event which was sanctioned by World Darts Federation (WDF) - Category 4. This is his second title this year after winning the French Open last month.
Lourence Ilagan bowed to Arvy in the finals to grab the runner up while Mon Sabalboro and Karl Hartman placed third.

Shanghai International Darts Open 2009 Finals - Part vs. Perez

2009-10-28T18:02:00.005+08:00

Sharing a video of a Finals match between John Part and Ian Perez.

John Part on Shanghai International Darts Open 2009

2009-10-28T17:55:00.002+08:00

Read uniblog's article here.

World Darts Championship - Philippine Qualifier

2009-10-28T17:23:00.003+08:00

In less than two weeks time, we will know who will be the Philippines' bet to the 2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship this coming December 18,2009 - January 3,2010 at Alexandra Palace, London, England. NDFP is holding the qualifier simultaneously with Darterong Pinoy on November 5-8 at Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall in Cainta, Rizal.

Click here for the event details.

World Darts Championship : Philippine Qualifier Update

2009-10-22T17:55:00.006+08:00

It is now official!!! Philippines will have a representative to PDC's World Darts Championship. Mr. Tito Soncuya,NDFP's President, likewise confirmed this news in his recent post in the NDFP forum.

To Quote:

"I am officially announcing that the National Darts Federation of the Philippines (NDFP) will have the Philippine Qualifier to the World Darts Championship."

Despite several tournaments happening on November, NDFP is set to stage the qualifier sometime during the first half of the month. This makes November an exciting month for all the Darterong Pinoys!

The details for the Qualifier will soon be announced at NDFP's webiste. Stay tuned...

Four out of Eight for Team Philippines

2009-10-20T08:42:00.007+08:00

It was a great showing for Team Philippines in the recently concluded Shanghai International Darts Open. Four out of the top eight are Darterong Pinoys! While the 3-time World Champ earned the highest slot, Ian perez held the runner-up position while Lourence Ilagan settled in the top 3 post. Boie Parfan and Robert Calupit shared the fifth post with Chris White and Warren Parry. We may have failed to get the championship crown but it was such a formidable display of darts for our squad. There were actually six Filipinos who joined the event, the other two being Arvy Briones (who was in the last 16 but eventually bowed to Ian perez) and Mon Sabalboro. These pinoy darters are just some of our top guns. There are still those who missed to join because of lack of funds and sponsorship. Better watch out in the coming Pacmania Darts!!! I would love to see the likes of Boy Gionzon, Dixie Ybanez, Orlan Bernardino,Jun Espiniola, and Ricky Santiago show their solid forms in this upcoming event.

Oh, by the way, Analiza "An An" Awitan also placed third in the women's division. Stacey Bromberg and Mayumi Ouchi were the Champion and runner-up respectively.

Results of Shanghai International Darts Open 2009

John Part wins Shanghai International Darts Open 2009

2009-10-18T13:06:00.008+08:00

The three-time World Champion, John "Darth Maple" Part, once again showed the world what he is made of as he emerged as the men's Champion in the recently concluded Shanghai Open. He was responsible for the lone loss, in the round robin phase, of NDFP's # 1 Celso "Boie" Parfan. Part landed # 10 in the last 64 while the top two posts were occupied by our Filipino darters. John Part faced Christian "Ian" Perez (NDFP's #2) in the Championship dispatching the latter at a score of 10-4. Perez dispatched Lourence "The Gunner" Ilagan securing a shot at the Championship against John Part. As for Ian Perez, facing the 3-time World Champion is a BIG achievement in itself. Finishing second to Part is a feat that we can be so proud of! The same goes to the rest of the Darterong Pinoys who competed in the said event, you guys truly made us proud. For sure, by now, darters and sponsors alike noticed your talents... David "The Scorpion" Fatum, in his blog, mentioned that the Philippines will be the "next power house in darts to come".
Congratulations, Ian Perez and the rest of the Philippine contigent ( Boie Parfan, Lourence Ilagan, Robert Reyes, Arvy Briones, Mon Sabalborro)!!!