Philippine Qualifier to the World Darts Championship Update

Any moment from now, NDFP (National Darts Federation of the Philippines) will officially announce the Philippines' representative to the World Darts Championship in Alexandra Palace, London, England. The qualifying event will be finally concluded today as scheduled. Several darters from around the nation bear witness of the qualifying event as it was staged together with the free-registration Darterong Pinoy tournament. Yesterday, the top ten qualifiers went of round robin format to determine the top 4 who will go through a step ladder for the finale of the event. Adding new blood in the top ten is the 2-time National Youth singles Champion, Jaypee Detablan (UDT), who showed class in his form beating veteran darters with a lone loss to Jojo Barellano. Sadly, he won't be allowed to advance to the next phase of the competion owing to a violation of playing agreement. Playing agreement number 1 states :

"1.. I understand that it is mandatory to furnish a readable copy of my valid passport with over 6 month expiration from December 18, 2009 upon reaching the Top 10 of the elimination round in anticipation of the limited visa processing time. I am fully aware that my failure to comply with this vital requirement negates any right from my side to participate and further continue the said competition;"

This unfortunate fate shouldn't bother the youngster since I am sure that we'll see more of him in the next years to come.

Oh, by the way, the Winmau World Masters semi-finalist Lourence "The Gunner" Ilagan did not see action in the Qualifying event. The reason was not publicly disclosed but I speculate that this has something to do with him participating in BDO sanctioned event. Same goes to Roland "Arvy" Briones who won two WDF-sanctioned events this year (2009 French and Korean Open respectively).

Newsfeed: Ian Perez (runner-up of the Shanghai International Darts Open) of Team Robson defeated a fellow Robson player, Celso "Boie" Parfan to advance to the Championship match against Rizal "Jojo" Barellano. Jojo Barellano was our first Wildcard to the World Darts Championship last 2008. It will be Jojo's second appearance at the Ally Pally should he win his match against Ian Perez.

World Darts Championship - Philippine Qualifier

In less than two weeks time, we will know who will be the Philippines' bet to the 2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship this coming December 18,2009 - January 3,2010 at Alexandra Palace, London, England. NDFP is holding the qualifier simultaneously with Darterong Pinoy on November 5-8 at Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall in Cainta, Rizal.

Click here for the event details.

Lourence Ilagan...Our Country's best?

Looking back at his performance last year in the local and international dart tournaments,one may conclude that perhaps he's our current best. Last year he won almost every single tournament in our country and in some places in Asia. The most remarkable achievement he had last year was his back-to-back championship titles in Darterong Pinoy and 2008 Philippine Qualifier to the World Darts Championship wherein he displayed awesome darts throwing 12 to 15 darts in the finals. Internationally,he bagged the Japan soft tip Monster Trophy and placed second in the Malaysian Open. Seeing him throw his darts then made me feel confident that we have a good chance in the World Championships. Late last year,however, after getting his World Qualifier title his darts seemed blinded with the pressure and the "high" of representing our country. His performance was affected and it showed in a couple of local tournaments before his appearance in Ally Pally. I've seen him ousted early in Philippines International Darts Open(PIDO) '08 and heard of his downfall in the prelims of Pacman Cup in GenSan. I have always believed in his skills and dart-struck at this guy since I saw him play but having heard of his share of bad darts created some apprehensions that he might not be able to show his form in London. True enough,he fell short when he faced the ever-confident Marko Kantele from Finland in Alexandra Palace last December. His so-so performance in succession in local tournaments definitely lowered his confidence level. Coupled with so many factors,his stint in London was not as successful as Pinoy darters wanted it to be. Nevertheless, he still showed power in his darts and many international spectators were still impressed by his showing. Credit should still be given to Lourence and I'm sure we will still see his solid darts this year...(If you want to watch the match between Lourence Ilagan and Marko Kantele just click it on my Video Links)