Prussian “The Specialist” Arceño successfully gained the NDFP top ranked player distinction ending the 4th quarter and the top seeded player for the 1st quarter of 2015. Prussian earned 475 ranking points from January 2013 to December 2014. During this time, Prussian won two NDFP sanctioned tournaments: the 2013 100K Panagbenga Open, and the 100K Cordillera Dart Association 3rd Anniversary Tournament - both in Baguio City, and consistently placed in the top 8 of other major tournaments. Playing in the international tournaments greatly boosted Prussian’s confidence and sharpened his playing skills. Hopefully Prussian wins his 3rd major Open Singles championship in 2015 to become the 12th NDFP National Master.
The 4th quarter top ranked player Christian Perez settled for 2nd place with a close 428 points. Andy Villamor, the top ranked player in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2014, came in 3rd with 388 points. Andy Villamor says that his decline is attributed to his on-going adjustment in playing soft tip and shifting to a lighter darts. Lourence Ilagan, the Q1 top ranked player, bounced back to 4th place after winning the Manny Pacquiao 1M Open Singles, and a second place finish in the 250K Resorts World Manila during the 4th quarter. Ricky Mijares, 5th ranked player, won the 2013 Darterong Pinoy and settled for 2nd place finishes in Panagbenga, 2013 Robson Summer Dartfest, Bulacan Open, and the 2014 Darterong Pinoy, in the process almost winning his 3rd norm for a National Masters title.  The hottest player in the 2014 NDFP sanctioned tournaments is Bong Gabiana of Robson-Bukidnon. Bong won 6 ranking tournaments - 3 Major and 3 Regional for 2014. The 3 major tournaments of 100K and over started with the 100K Gov. Mercado Cup win over Prussian Arceño, followed by the Kadayawan Open over Christian Perez, and the TSA Darts in Cagayan de Oro over Boie Parfan, all in the 3rd quarter. For winning 3 out of the 4 consecutive major tournaments, Bong became the fastest player to gain a National Masters title. This was an outstanding performance considering that out of the 25 NDFP sanctioned ranking tournaments for 2014, there were 17 players who won the Singles with only 3 players winning more than once with 2 championships each for Ilagan, Villamor, and Boy Chucas. The confidence of Bong was greatly boosted when he beat Lourence Ilagan in the top 4 of the 2014 Federation Cup and almost beat winner Christian Perez in a decision leg. Unfortunately, Bong Gabiana shifted to a soft tip convertible darts in the 4th quarter in preparation for soft tip international exposure and his streak of wins dried out.
 Jan Jan Hinojales of Davao City regains the Ladies top ranking with a convincing victory in the 1M Manny Pacquiao Ladies Singles. Jan Jan is making a mini-comeback but work and family continues to limit her full focus with darts. Ging Ansale of Bukidnon slipped to 2nd place and Angie Valmadrid of Cainta, who has been idle the last few tournaments is in third place.
The NDFP sanctioned tournaments are the toughest ranking events in Asia, providing the arena to sharpen and maintain the skills of our top players and to provide the necessary competitive exposure to our up and coming young darters. It is no wonder that through these continuing NDFP sanctioned tournaments, we continue to dominate Asia. This is a dart infrastructure national in scope that continues to grow from Cordillera to Bicol, to the hinterlands of Mindanao propagated by the NDFP affiliated organizations. A cycle of continuity is in place inspiring the hopes and aspirations of our players.
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TUSOK BALITA ONLINE - A Publication of the National Darts Federation of the Philippines
