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!

Darts in Philippines

Although many pinoys have heard about the sports called Darts only a handful knew that it has been here since the 70's. The earliest recorded by Darts Council of the Philippines (DCP) in their unmaintained website was on 1978 which was won by Bumbi Veloso. Personally, I've come to know darts when I was in sixth grade(1989) when dart boards are everywhere in my Honetown in Cagayan de Oro City. Two prominent dart personalities from our place once dominated Philippines darts scene - Estoy "The Maestro" Densing and Ricky Villanueva. They were so prominent that darters nowadays still utter their names. Ricky has now stopped playing darts (as my source told me) but who would have thought that he will be ranked in the US and was even a member of America's National Darts Hall of Fame. Try googling his name and you'll be surprised to know the many dart high profile stints he had in the US. "The Maestro",on the other hand, is now coming back after resting for several years because of an accident. I had the rare opportunity to play with him back home and boy, he still got it! Maybe not as good as he was in his prime but his DART still speaks English!
Another man whose name is carved in Philippines darts history is the late Freedie Deen. I don't know if many of the youngsters today know that once we had a Unicorn signature player in the person of Freedie Deen - the first Asian and a Filipino at that! Until now,some pinoy darters still use his signature dart pins --- a priceless possession I dearly want to have. He also managed to publish a dart book which I am one of those who are fortunate to have a copy.
Those names I mentioned above were just few of the many pinoys who,in one way or another,contributed to today's success of Philippines Darts. Just last year, darts in Philippines is rising once again. Events with prizes ranging from 1M(20,000USD) to 2M (40,000 USD) were
participated by locals and some international darters. Darts in the Philippines has climbed to a greater heights and is now gaining massive national support. And with our national boxing hero (Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao)supporting this sport, there is no doubt that Philippine Darts will be propelled to a level at par with world's best. Soon enough, pinoy darters will be as known as our great billiards players. Soon enough,pinoy darters will let the world know that their dart speaks English!