CONGRATULATIONS
IAN PEREZ
Finalist of The World, Soft Darts World Championship
PHOTOS COURTESY OF
THE WORLD SOFT DARTS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Congratulations Ian. The first Filipino to reach the finals of a
world darts championship!
Christian “Ian” Perez, the NDFP number 1 ranked player
played for the championship of “The World, Soft-Tip World
Championship 2012”, last December 16, 2012 at the Kowloon
International Trade and Exhibit Center in Hongkong. After an incredible
run of winning eight (8) straight matches, Ian Perez lost 4-2 in
the Grand Finals to Takehiro Suzuki of Japan in an alternate 701
and Cricket best of seven (7) legs format.
This
was the best finish of a Filipino dart player in a world darts championship
– indeed Ian is the best Filipino dart player. Ian was unknown
in soft-tip darts having played only in his 2nd soft tip tournament.
But his credentials include playing twice as the Philippine representative
to the PDC World Darts Championship in London and as a finalist
in the rich 2009 Shanghai Open losing to John Part in the finals.
Going to the quarter final round of the top eight (8), which was
beamed world-wide through live streaming, Ian Perez was the last
Filipino standing from a field of 11Filipino dart players in the
top 64. Ian edged Gary Mawson of the USA 3-2 in quarterfinals. Ian
then demolished USA Ray Carver 4-0, in the semifinals, the stage
8th winner and who beat Lourence Ilagan in the top 16.
In the top 64, Ian was ranked 60th and played 5th ranked Scott Mckenzie
of Hongkong winning 3-2. He next played fellow Filipino Nayr Ocampo
and won 3-1. In the top 16, Ian beat Hongkong’s Tom Tom Wong
3-2.
Ian played in the elimination round as the 100th ranked player on
December 15, 2012 along with the 49th to 100th other ranked players
after the eight (8) stages of the World Tournament. Ian Perez played
only in the final 8th stage and finished in the top 8 earning enough
points to qualify for the elimination round. Ian learned to play
Cricket only 2 weeks before stage 8. The 49th to 100th ranked players
played in a round robin elimination in 16 groups. Ian topped his
group and advanced to the top 64.
The World Grand Finals is the richest singles soft-tip dart tournament,
organized by DARTSLIVE, with a total cash prize of 2.2M Hongkong
Dollars with 1M going to the champion. Winner is crowned as the
‘best soft-tip player of the world”. Players qualify
by reaching the top 100 ranking after eight stages of “The
World Tournament”.
Lourence Ilagan topped the ranking after eight stages, with Ronald
Briones 4th, Bryan Eribal 7th and Jerry Suwerto 8th. The total points
garnered by the top Filipino darters earned them an additional 100,000
HKD as the country with most points.
The Philippines is ready to compete in the world of soft tip darts.
And we are more than ready to play any darts. Congratulations to
all winners and hopefully we will be champions next time.