Updated Dec 13 fixed Bernard's name
We continue our series of coverage on the Medalist Asia-International tournament that just ended in Taipei, Taiwan last weekend. Read about the day 1 coverage here
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Day 2 of the event is jam packed with interesting events. There are the usual A,B,C flight events as well as Grandmasters singles and Asia Pride Cup. Today we were luckier as we had more players winning prizes than the day before, no doubt the nerves are more settled and players are getting the hang of the environment.
In A flight, Team Singapore performed strongly to sweep the top 2 spots. Bernard/Andy and Kent/River fought their way from different sides of the bracket to finally meet in the all-Singapore finals. It was a proud moment for all Singapore players as the pretty final-pit girls carried both Singapore flags to the stage.
A Flight all-Singapore Finalists
In the finals match, Kent/River finally overcome yesterday's A Flight bugbear to win their first ever champion trophy.
Day 2 Roll call
A Flight Champion - Kent Ong/River Ang
A Flight 2nd Place - Bernard Tong/Andy Tan
B Flight Joint 3rd - Ng Ngak Keng/Thomas Huang
B Flight Joint 9th - Martin Tan/Kae Ng
Sweet Sixteen Champion - Calvin Tan/Winson Damien
Sweet Sixteen 2nd Place - Jason Chong/Jason Tay
Day 2 Trophy winners - from left: Bernard Tong/Andy Tan, (A Flight 2nd Place), Kent Ong/River Ang (A Flight Champion), Ng Ngak Keng/Thomas Huang (B Flight Joint 3rd)
Darts couple Martin/Kae - B Flight Joint 9th
Sweet Sixteen 2nd Place - Jason Chong / Jason Tay
Sweet Sixteen Champion - Calvin Tan/Winson
The Grandmasters event always prove to be very interesting to watch as it brings together all the best-of-the-best darters to play without handicaps. Past Medalist Grandmaster champion, Paul Lim, was the man to watch. He easily swept his way pass the first round, into the single elimination. In the single elimination round, he easily defeated Chia Ming, from Taiwan and Atsushi from Japan which then puts him in a Quarter-finals showdown match against Natthakhom, of Thailand. Natthakhom was his opponent in previous Medalist AI Grandmasters finals. However, this time around, Paul easily won 3-0 in a quick match and went on to the semi-finals against Marco, of Hong Kong.
The Grandmasters semi-finals match between Paul and Marco prove to be very exciting, as competition was quite level between the 2 players. Each player took turns to gain a point with Paul winning the cricket games and Marco taking the 01 games. In the cork for the final choice game, Paul hit a closer black bull than Marco's to choose the next cricket game. It was an amazing game to watch as Paul maintain a small lead in almost every round by trying to close any house that Marco tried to open and at the same time scoring triple-20 whenever there is opportunity. Similar to previous cricket games, it was a neck-to-neck game even to the last bull. When Marco misses a crucial bull, Paul homes in and grabs the win. Everyone, including the HK players cheered for a very exciting game. The win for Paul puts him in a finals game on stage against Watanyu, of Thailand, played the next day. In the Grandmasters finals, Paul Lim had no problems putting in the bulls and won the game after a short fight.
2010 Grandmaster's Singles Champion - Paul Lim (left) with Watanyu of Thailand (2nd)
Next up was the Asia Pride Cup which is an inter-country event, with each country forming their best trios team to play. The players from each country were introduced and everyone cheered for their teams on stage.
Asia Pride Cup players On-stage (Singapore team on rightmost)
In the Asia Pride Cup, Team Singapore comprising Kent Ong, River Ang and Andy Tan were pitted in the same group as Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia. They had challenging matches playing against the top players of each country. Thailand proved to be a challenging opponent. Both teams were tied at 2-2 and needed to win the last game. Just one small mistake gave the game away to Thailand. The game was not only challenging but fun to watch as both teams cheered and shared jokes with each other and their supporters. In the end, although Team Singapore fought valiantly and even though all 3 were tired from playing whole day of games, only the top 2 teams advanced and we were not one of the teams.
Asia Pride Cup: Team Singapore with Team Thailand
Asia Pride Cup: Team Singapore with Team Korea
Asia Pride Cup: Team Singapore with Team Taiwan
We retired from the tournament hall tired but still happy with the reasonable wins and most importantly made some new friends and played some challenging darts.
Stay tuned for the final day-3 blog coverage
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