The P260K Mayor Alfred Romualdez National Darts Open was a fitting conclusion to the historic 12 NDFP Ranking tournaments of the 2nd Quarter Summer Darts Ratsada with over P1.6M in cash prize. This was the biggest tournament of the 2nd Quarter. Almost all of the Philippine top players were in attendance coming from the Cordillera to the hinterlands of Mindanao.
Patio Victoria, the concluding tournament venue of the 2nd quarter, is a beach resort in Tacloban City. It has a magnificent view of the serene blue waters of the Pacific Ocean offering amenities of a fully air-conditioned venue, a swimming pool, and a full bar and restaurant. Tacloban City is in a festive mood as they celebrate the Sangyaw Festival - the city’s fiesta.
In contrast to the festive backdrop and the natural splendor of the place, excitement and fierce competition awaited the participants. Driving the excitement were the additional P10K added cash prize for the tournament MVP and the two (2) P50K Open Singles. The 2 Open Singles further increased the excitement and the chances of the six (6) players vying for their 3rd national title to earn a place in the exclusive elite group of 11 National Masters. Players waiting for one more win to be national masters are Prussian Arceño, Edward Santos, Elmer Maranan, DJ Tongcopanon, Willy Omli, JP de Tablan, and Ricky Mijares.
On opening night, Mayor Romualdez hosted a sumptuous dinner - a prelude to the Classified Draw Doubles, the first event. The Classified Draw Doubles was won by Christian Perez (Robson-Marbel) and partner Vicente Badoy of Maasin City over teammate DJ Toncopanon (Robson-GenSan) and Jake Ubaldo of Big Four.
In the Four (4) Person Team competition, JRS-Dominics led by Prussian Arcenio, Boy Gionzon, Edward Santos, and Nayr Ocampo prevailed over Top Gunner of Bhoy Ulang, Dixie Ibañez, Alexis Toylo, and Manny Go.
Sangyaw Open Singles
The Sangyaw Open Singles was a toss-up between Bhoy Ulang of Top Gunner looking for his first national title, and Prussian Arceño of JRS-Dominics needing the win for his third championship to attain the National Masters title. Ulang opened with a 180 enroute to a 14 dart finish and ended the match with a 94 Double Bulls out winning 5-3 over Prussian. Prussian lost another chance to become the new NM. Finally, Bhoy Ulang won an NDFP national title after losing in the finals of the P250K Resorts World Manila to Lourence Ilagan and in the 100K Gov Mercado Cup in Maasin to DJ Toncopanon. With the win, Ulang was way ahead for the MVP race with P20.5K coming from the P18K Singles Championship and the additional P2.5K share in the Four-Person Team event.
The Classified Draw Triples was won by Edward Santos (JRS-Dominics), Jun Buling (TDAI), and Boyet Majomot of CDO out classing Ed Barsubia of Team Makati City, Max Tudlong of Highland Darters, and John Galo of MCDC. The Seniors Singles was won by Arnold Tacdol of Highland Darters over Bonnie Evangelista of Team Makati City.
Mayor’s Cup Open Singles
The last event was the Mayor’s Open Singles Cup. Mathematically, six players were still in contention if they win the Mayors Cup and Bhoy Ulang fails to enter the money round. Showing signs of serious determination was Christian Perez when he almost made a 9-dart out finish in the earlier round. In the top 8, Perez played against fellow National Master Dixie Ibañez who was up by one leg and a 40 left set up to take a 2-0 lead. Perez with 161 left closed out the 2nd leg with a perfect T20, T17 and DB out to even out the score. Perez won over Dixie Ibañez 4-2. In the top 4 Perez closed out Jerry Salenga 4-0.
On the other side of the bracket, Noel Malicdem disposed Prussian Arceño 4-1 in the top 16, and a 4-2 win over Roy Agustin in the top 8. Malicdem’s opponent in the top 4 was another hot player that night - Boie Parfan winning over DJ Toncopanon in a decision leg and Nayr Ocampo in the top 8. One of the best matches was played between Malicdem and Boie Parfan. Parfan opened with a back to back 180 only to get burned by the 3 140’s of Malicdem. The match went all the way to a decisive leg with Malicdem taking advantage of Parfan’s missed outing. The finals closed at 5-0 with the hot shooting Perez prevailing over team mate Noel Malicem of Robson.
Christian Perez – Tournament MVP
Christian Perez won the Most Valuable Player Award and P10Kcash prize as Bhoy Ulang lost in the first round to Reyden Colina of Cebu City in the Mayor’s Cup. The MVP was awarded to Christian Perez for attaining the most cash prize of the tournament with his championships in the Mayors Cup Open Singles (P18K) and the Classified Draw Doubles (P8K share); Top 16 Sangyaw Open (P1K) and Top 8 in the Four-Person Team (P625 share) for a total of P27,625 cash prize. Perez went home winning P37,625 with the MVP Award. Christian is the first winner of the MVP award in a sanctioned NDFP ranking tournament.
Christian Perez could have won another P10K by hitting 7 consecutive T20’s, T15 but wired the Double 18 for what could have been a perfect nine darts out.
Summary
The National Masters (NM) outshone everybody else in the Mayor’s Cup led by NM’s Christian Perez, Noel Malicdem, Boie Parfan, and Dixie Ibañez. The six players aspiring to earn the national master title failed. New players in the provinces are making their presence felt and can win if given more exposure. It is very noticeable that the top 8 of the Sangyaw Open are totally different from the top 8 of the Mayor’s Cup. It shows that we have highly competitive players in our midst. The base of competitive players is expanding. The bar of excellence has been raised as the quality of play has become world class. The continuing, almost weekly ranking events of the 2nd quarter have greatly influenced the productive exuberance of the darting community. |
TUSOK BALITA ONLINE - A Publication of the National Darts Federation of the Philippines
