Darts in the Cayman Islands has plenty to build on in the coming months.
Cayman’s national team recently competed in Tampa, Florida at the 2014 Caribbean Cup Tournament, organized by the Caribbean Darts Organization in conjunction with the Florida Dart Association. The 20th edition of the competition saw Cayman finish sixth overall out of nine countries. Head coach Cassius Anglin says that result does not paint an accurate picture of the country’s ability in the sport.
“I must say that the results do not reflect how well we played,” Anglin said. “However, it must be noted that our weaknesses were identified and we will be working hard to improve on our standings. Certainly having more local tournaments would be an asset and the first one would be the Trinidad Independence Day tournament at Singh’s Roti Shop on August 30 at 7:30 p.m. The next Caribbean tournament will be held in Barbados in 2016.”
Last month’s competition started well for Cayman. In the Americas Cup event, Romwell “Mel” Tagalog excelled by knocking out the top player from the Bahamas – Robin Albury – in the first round, then knocking out Jim Widmayer and Tom Sawyer – the two top players from the United States – to make it to the finals against David Cameron, the top player from Canada. In the final, Tagalog was eventually beaten 3-0 though it is fair to say that he played below his usual level in the final.
In the Caribbean Cup team games, Cayman lost to Barbados, Florida, Trinidad, Brazil and the Bahamas. However, local hurlers did defeat Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and tied with Belize. Points-wise, Florida was first with 151 points, Bahamas had 86 points, Trinidad and Barbados each had 75 points and Brazil had 71 points. Cayman had 55 points ahead of Jamaica’s 50 points, Belize’s 45 points and Turks’s 27 points.
Aside from Cassius Anglin and Tagalog, the squad featured manager Paul Anglin, captain Rodan Asuncion, Edward Ballantyne, Hank “The Hammer” Ebanks, Miriam Rodriguez, Earl “The Pearl” Smith, Cliff Weeks, Norrin Stewart, Neville Parker, Nathina Ebanks, Rosyl Deguzman, Irma Smith, Kimberly Stewart and juniors Adrian Anglin, Arek Archibold and Kaylone Warren.
The juniors offered another highlight as Archibold, 16, claimed the youth championship for the first time.
In the individual knockout events, the mixed trio of Tagalog, Hank Ebanks and Rodriguez reached the quarterfinals and lost to the Bahamas. In the mixed doubles, Earl and Irma Smith lost in the first round and Hank Ebanks and Rodriguez exited in the second round, along with Parker and Nathina Ebanks. Tagalog and Deguzman made it to the quarterfinals and lost to a pair from Florida.
In the women’s singles, Cayman had some struggles with finishing their games. Irma Smith played a great game, narrowly losing to the Bahamas and Rodriguez played well but fell short against Kelly Meares of Florida.
In the men’s singles, Norrin Stewart, Parker, Weeks and Asuncion all had good games but narrowly lost. Tagalog and Earl Smith both lost in the second round and Ballantyne lost in the round of 16 to Floridian Gary Mawson. Hank Ebanks made it to the quarterfinals and lost to Floridian Sheldon Lionel, 2-1, in a contest that could have gone either way.
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