PALO, Leyte-Senator Edgardo “Sonny” Angara is pushing for the inclusion of darts as a full- fledged sport in local and international arena saying that it is comparable to other games that require skills, disciple and precision.
Angara made this statement as he graced the opening of the 1st Philippine Open 2018 international Darts Tournament on Thursday (April 19) held at the Leyte Academic Center.
The four-day competition, initiated by the Darts Organization of Tacloban(DOT) and former congressman Florencio ‘Bem’ Noel of the An Waray party-list group, is participated by over 1,000 darts enthusiasts, some of them came from 16 other countries.
“I am throwing my full support to efforts to make darts as a part of sports competition here and abroad, particularly in the upcoming ASEAN Games” Angara said.
Angara believes that darts is a sport wherein Filipinos can excel in, citing the international achievements in the past of the local darters like Melvin Kent Pelona and Lovely Mae Orbeta who won the Selangor 2018 Dart championship organized by the Malaysia Dart Association last February; Laurence Ilagan who clinched the top spot from compatriot Christian Perez during the world 2013 Soft Darts Championship in Hong Kong and Filipino-Austrian National Championships in 2010.
“Darts demand skills, precision, discipline and maybe enough athleticism to be considered a full pledged sport. It’s a game that anybody can play as long as they can throw an arrow,” Angara, who is the vice chair of the Senate sports committee, said.
Angara also expressed hope that that the 1st Philippine Open-international Darts Tournament would set the stage for more international competitions in the country.
“Now is the time for the rest of the world to know that not only Filipinos know how to play a good game of darts, they also know how to run world-class tournaments,” said Angara.
He also lauded former congressman Noel and his colleagues from the DOT and the National Darts Federation of the Philippines for organizing the event which has attracted participants from the US, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Croatia, Poland, Austria, England, France, Indonesia and Brunei.
Noel said that he hopes that with the staging of the 1st Philippine Dart Open would lead for its recognition by the state sport’s governing body, the Philippine Sports Commission.
According to Noel, dart is a potential medal source of the country for international events like the ASEAN Games.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
