Budweiser launches King of Darts event

The Budweiser Event of the Year - King of Darts - was unveiled recently with the biggest total prize pot of S$10,000.

How does it work?

In Stage 1, every week, there are qualifying games going on at various locations. The top winners of these qualifying games meet in Stage 2 which is the month-end playoffs. The top 8 winners of these month-end playoffs are given the title Prince and Princesses of Darts. They will then meet in Stage 3 where they will play for the title of King of Darts.

Each month, a different game is played. For example, the August game is Pirates Plunder, the September game is Air Attack. Players are separated in 2 flights: AB for rating 7 and above, BC for rating 6 and below. All games are singles.

Each qualifying entry cost $12, which includes a bottle of Budweiser. Players only need to pay entry fee for the qualifying stage 1. No fee is charged for Stage 2 and 3.

Players who have won Stage 2 and earned the title Prince/Princess of Darts can still participate in subsequent months' games as there is prize money to be won.

On top of the prize money for the winners, there is also a Grand Jester Lucky Draw of $1000. Each qualifying entry is given 1 Royal point. Register online early to get an extra royal point. Minimum of 5 royal points is needed to qualify for the draw. This grand draw will be conducted during the Grand Final and the winner must be present to collect.

Each flight's qualifying games are held at various locations so do check the calendar for your flight and location. The first game starts on 4th Aug at Ice Karaoke (BC Flight) and No Clue (AB flight).

New funky tip holder

Medalist brought in an interesting darts tip holder from Korea recently. Unveiled during the recent Singapore Championship 2009, it is a metallic ball-like object with holes all around it for you to screw in your tips. It comes with a coloured hook-and-lock for you to hook it to your belt loop or to your other darts accessories.

They come in various metallic colors to match your favourite attire or darts pouch. Don't forget to get dart tips in matching colors too. Each spiky tip holder "ball" comes with enough holes to fill about 30 tips. Ask for them at your favourite Medalist darts location that carries official Medalist accessories.

Metallic tip-holder ball

Match them with your attire!

Team Singapore - Post La Rochelle interview

Fresh from their victories in La Rochelle, the 3 Team Singapore players shares with us their experiences while in France.

1. Tell us about your most exciting game at La Rochelle

DARYL: All games were exciting, I can't think of any specifically. Some I did very well while others I didn't. I think I was more excited watching the doubles final between Team Singapore vs Team USA.

JAMES: All the Doubles and team events were exciting to me.

ALBERT: Haha, it must be the quarter-final game against Spain where I was given a chance to partner Mr. Paul Lim.


2. How are the other players at La Rochelle?

DARYL: There were various kinds of people. Some are dressed unusually for the occasion. There were many good players, some have very good sportsmanship, while some threw their darts on the ground. However, all of them were very friendly.

JAMES/ALBERT: They were all friendly and they showed good sportsmanship all the way.


3. How would you rate the skill level of the other players you met at La Rochelle?

DARYL: I think they were of rating 8-17 though there were more of the higher raters and perhaps some didn't perform at their standard.

JAMES: There were all very good

ALBERT: I personally will rate them all 17 raters and above.


4. Did you make new friends with other darters?

DARYL: Of course we did. Michael from Germany is probably one of the friendliest old man we ever met, I think we all agreed. And there was this one French guy who had lost most of his fingers and yet was still playing very good darts. He gave me one of his cap too.

JAMES: Yannick, the organiser and some of the French guys that we exchanged T-shirts. Most of the players were all polite and nice people.

ALBERT: Yes, there was this German darter who looked like Robbie Williams and so we called him "NANU NANU"

A snapshot with darter friends

5. How do you feel after reaching the qualifying stage or winning the trophy?

DARYL: I should have made it to the finals on the second day. I felt I let the team down on the last day - lost my concentration and energy due to a sudden hunger pang while in the Knock-Out stage.

JAMES: Oh, it was very exciting and wonderful when we won the team championship.

ALBERT: Words really cannot describe how I felt. You must be there to really feel the atmosphere.


6. What are the other foreign players reaction to Team Singapore winning?

DARYL: I think some of them may have been caught with surprise.

JAMES: They were shocked.

ALBERT: i guess TEAM SINGAPORE is one of the under dog teams. So the other foreign players were sure very surprised and shocked when we won.

James Quek on the line with Daryl Lim in the background

7. Who was your most memorable opponent that you ever played with at La Rochelle?

DARYL: Spain, on the last game of the last day. Paul Lim, James Quek and Albert Chia managed to pull up the match closer from 0-3 to 2-3. Ultimately, we lost. But they were the strongest team we ever played with. They were all consistently getting hat-tricks after hat-tricks, never missing a dart.

JAMES: It must the finals against the USA team. Every game was very tense until i can't remember the details. Yes, the last deciding game where USA team had only a 4 to checkout but missed and Paul came in to checked 58 and won the game.

ALBERT: It must be the Quarter-final game against Spain when I needed 4 bulls to win that leg.


8. What is La Rochelle like?

DARYL: La Rochelle is an old coastal town, where you can find a lot of historical buildings and beautiful yachts. The tournament hall was like an expo hall in Singapore - huge. The only food available in the tournament hall was bread. For drinks, you have coffee, mineral water, soft drinks, Kir Royal (wine) and their favourite: Kronenbourg Beer. We started drinking practically every morning during the warm-up darts, followed by Scotch coffee and beer or wine for the rest of the day. Lunch? No such thing during tournament... OTOT. The break in-between was not enough unless we got knocked out. And I always got hungry, maybe because of the weather. The wind was chilly and strong that it can blow away a plastic table. Everything was expensive, and I mean everything. I always tell myself, same price, just different currency.

ALBERT/JAMES: La Rochelle is a nice, quiet, heritage town. There was not much entertainment going on except on Saturdays where you can see more people around town. Food was expensive but the mussels were very nice.

Team Singapore in Paris

9. Overall, what do you think of the La Rochelle experience?

DARYL: It was a very good experience. I learned a lot from Paul Lim, Albert and James. I had very understanding team mates, we were there for the exposure yet we gave it our very best shot to win.

JAMES: La Rochelle is a very nice place to visit and there are many nice darters around. I would want to come back and play again if given the chance.

ALBERT: France Darts is one of the biggest tournament that all darters, including myself, would want to come and play again.

A meal and drink at the local French restaurant

10. Tell us about the most memorable non-darts related event you have experienced in France during your trip there ?

DARYL: The mussels (moule in French) with white wine. It was so damn good! It was in season. We shared 1 bowl of it while the Japanese had a bowl each. We ate it for lunch at a French restaurant by the harbour. Half way through, it started to rain, so we have to move under the shelter to continue enjoying the meal.

JAMES: Taking the train around Paris and to La Rochelle. The sightseeing was wonderful.

ALBERT: Haha, it must be that Korean restaurant that charge me 3 euro (S$6) for a bowl of white rice!