The Marikina City
Dart Organization (MCDO) bagged the coveted Over-All Championship
of the 1st Inter-City Invitational Dart Championship
organized by the National Dart Foundation of the Philippines (NDFP)
held last May 13, 2006 at the Common Room Sports Bar in Marikina
City.
Invited to the championship are
established local dart organizations: United Darters of
Taytay (UDT) lead by President Glenn San Juan and Orlan
Bernardino, Angono Rizal Dart Association (ARDA)
headed by President Jimmy Tolentino and supported by Erning Zapanta,
Marikina City Dart Organization (MCDO) chaired
by Omeng Dumlao and Dexter Vasquez and Makati City Darts
Association (MCDA) spearheaded by Bonie Evangelista and
Bert Pineda.
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Participants
of the 1st Inter-City Invitational Dart Championship |
The Inter-City Dart Championship is in line with the vision of the
NDFP to propagate and expand darts through the local dart organizations
(LDO) and to build regional support networks of the local dart organizations.
This undertaking hopes to promote camaraderie among dart organizations,
to spur other cities / municipalities to form their respective local
dart organizations and to gain the support of local government units
for their respective local dart organizations.
It is therefore not surprising that
the 1st Inter-City Invitational Dart Championship unraveled new
talents that came from the rigorous elimination phases and training
of UDT, ARDA and MCDO to determine player representation.
In the Open Singles event, MCDO’s
Boie Parfan fought an exciting down-to-the-wire finals match, 4-3,
over unknown Nelboy Bernabe of ARDA. The match saw exchanges of
T80’s, T40’s and 13, 14, 15 darts outs. In the decision
leg, Parfan won the toss coin and threw a 140 opener followed by
100 and eventually finished with 14 darts to emerge the Open Singles
champion.
In the Fixed Doubles event, all
four cities were represented in the semi-final round after some
unexpected results in the group elimination. Unknown Marikina players
Tameng Gica and Sam Manalo won in Group A against a strong group
composed of Nelboy Bernabe and Emil Manga of ARDA, Richard Callejo
and Gilbert Noble of MCDA and Orlan and Jay Bernardino of UDT. The
Marikina players continued to the finals beating Group B winners
Jay-Ar San Juan and Jojo Nachor of UDT. In Group C, upcoming ARDA
players Ging Castillo and Edwin Zapanta won over the strong tandem
of Parfan and Noel Malicdem and UDT’s George Jacinto and Erwin
Medina. In the semis, the Angono players beat Group D winners Pong
Saez and June Reyes of MCDA, and prevailed over MCDO’s Gica
and Manalo, 3-1 in the Doubles Championship.
In the Four-Man Team event, UDT-A
composed of Orlan Bernardino, Jay Bernardino, George Jacinto and
Erwin Medina topped Group A and won a cross-over match with Group
B runner-up UDT-B composed of Jay-Ar San Juan, Ram Argoncillo, Virdi
Guevarra and Ronaldo Reyes with a semi-final score of 2-0. Group
B runner-up, MCDO-A of Erning Bantoy and new players Rolly Agudal,
Arnold Garcia and David Mumar, showing grit, composure and determination,
edged twice-to-beat Group B winners ARDA-B of Edwin Zapanta, Nelboy
Bernabe, Ging Castillo and Emil Manga with a score of 2-1 in the
first match and won the single leg of the second match to barge
into the finals. However, MCDO-A’s semi-final performance
proved to be too much for the team as they were overpowered by UDT-A
with a score of 3-0 in their finals match. UDT-A won the team event
championship without dropping a single leg.
After the final tally of points,
MCDO came in first with 149 points to bag the Overall Championship.
Angono Rizal Darters Association (ARDA) came in a surprise second
with 122 points followed closely by United Darters of Taytay (UDT)
with 114 points. Bringing in the rear was Makati City Darts Organization
(MCDO) with 38 points. The powerhouse team of Makati City composed
of Gilbert Noble, Richard Callejo, June Reyes, Bonie Evangelista,
Pong Saez and Jun Pagdato were no match to the well prepared and
highly motivated teams from MCDO, ARDA and UDT.
A sidelight of the 1st Inter-City
Invitational Dart Championship were the exhibition matches of the
youth players divided into two age brackets of 14 years old and
below and the 15 years old to 18 years old. The youth exhibition
matches are part of the continuing commitment to the nationwide
youth support and development programs of the NDFP.
The youth exhibition matches is
a marvel to watch. It is a spectacle in its own right, inspiring
and motivating, flowing with youthful innocence and exuberance,
a model and new beginning to the image of darts.
The next Inter-City Invitational
will definitely include youth representation not only from ACDC
and UDT but from various dart organizations.
Special recognition is given to
Ritchie Gannaban, NDFP National Coordinator, Rommel Escubil, NDFP
Tournament Director and Tito Soncuya, NDFP President, not only for
the success of the Inter-City Invitational, but for the vision of
the evolving relevance and strength of the local dart organizations.
Special mention to Edward Pascual
of the Angalo Circuit Dart Club (ACDC) for his unselfish dedication
to the youth darters of Tondo and to Orlan Bernardino, assisted
by Nover Tolentino, of UDT for the integration of the youth to the
dart development programs of Taytay.
Everybody is looking forward to
the 2nd Inter-City Invitational Dart Championship tentatively set
for the 4th quarter of the year. Darters from Manila, Quezon City,
Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas, Parañaque and Cavite have expressed
their interest in participating in the next inter-city championship
and are now in the process of organizing their local dart organizations
and to hopefully integrate in the regional support network of the
NDFP.
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