A long way to the Oche

Little did the world know that dart has been so active here in our beautiful island Philippines. We may have sent pinoy darters to other parts of the world on several occasions but it was just lately when the darting world was thunderstruck by the talent of pinoys as far as darts is concerned. Many would argue that the world has already took notice of our talent in darts several years ago during the time of the late Freddie Deen. Indeed, Freddie Deen’s achievements were huge in itself. More so that he held the title of being the first Asian to sign contract with Unicorn as one their signature players. No doubt, the late Freedie Deen is an institution in Philippines darts, I have high respects for what he has done and his contribution to Philippine Darts. In fact, the way I see it, he was the one who paved the way to other pinoy darters to partake and excel in darts internationally. There are other names who most pinoy darters can recall whenever someone speaks about international tournaments. The likes of Mon Sabalboro, Boie Parfan, Ding Sumulong, Ricky Villanueva, Estoy Densing, Dixie Ybanez, Gale Santos, Joseph Domanais, and many others who mostly dominate the Asian circuit. But it was just recently, after Ilagan’s successful stint in Winmau World Master’s that we have caught the world’s attention. They have started to be intrigued on how deep the talent is in our archipelago. This for sure, inspired every pinoy darter to strive hard and spend more time at the oche. As I have said in my other posts, it will be in no time that the world will see a Filipino darts world champion. What they see now is just the tip of the iceberg. Sooner or later, more pinoy dart heroes will surface and the world will be more astonished. Come to think of it, Lourence Ilagan does not always win in our local competition. While he is DCP’s (Darts Council of the Philippines) # 1 (I’m assuming he is because of his recent achievements. Although the last time I checked, DCP’s # 1 is Arby Briones), NDFP (National Dart Federation of the Philippines) has Boie Parfan as top in their list. This is not to discount Ilagan’s skills and achievements but rather to point out there are still several pinoy darters who can put up a show against Lourence or any internationally ranked darter anytime anywhere. I am a BIG fan of Lourence Ilagan but I have seen him being pounded and had his fair share of upsets in several occasions. Take for example last year’s Manny Pacquiao’s 2M cup, Ricky Santiago of Cavite crushed Lourence in the elimination round denying him the opportunity to bag the biggest purse ever in Philippines Darts history. Point in case, there are quite a lot of pinoy darters whose talents are at par with international counterparts. This claim, I know, is debatable since I don’t have a database of their averages but I tell you, their darts really speak English! What they need are sponsors! Lourence Ilagan wouldn’t have made it to the Winmau World Masters if it was not because of Monster darts. Unless this big rock is hurdled, pinoy darters’ talents will just be for our eyes to see!