This past Sunday afternoon 32 of the islands’ top dart players turned out to participate in the annual Pirates Week darts tournament.
Among some of the bigger names out for the tournament were Vivian Rankine Memorial tournament winner Richard Campbell, Caribbean champion Edsell Haylock and national team manager Martin Bodden.
A sizeable crowd came out for the tournament. One of the more notable faces was Derrick Elliot Snr, President of the Island All Stars domino club.
Most of the executive members of the Cayman Islands Darts Association were also present including President Arthur Ebanks, Vice President Phillip Parsons and Treasurer Michelle Cullen.
Coming into the tournament all eyes were on Frank Martyr and Arthur Ebanks. Martyr was a finalist in last year’s singles event with Celso Ocampo while Ebanks teamed up with Ocampo to win the doubles section.
After close scrutiny of the record-keeping for that tournament it was discovered that Martyr, not Ocampo, was the winner in the singles event.
Nevertheless with Ocampo off-island, the players knew both titles were primed for the taking.
There was fierce competition all afternoon, as everyone pressed their own limits in a bid to emerge the day’s champion.
The tournament games were of the popular ‘Mickey Mouse’ format, where players attempted to land three consecutive darts on the portions of the dart-board with the values of 20-12 and Bull’s-eye, in order to be first to close-out that particular number.
Points of the same value can be scored against one’s opponent whilst they still have not closed-out a particular number.
The player finishing all of their numbers first and also having the highest numerical score wins the leg.
Players vied for the best of three legs to win their respective games and there were both singles and doubles competitions during the tournament.
One of the interesting sights at the tournament was the presence of the Anglin family. Brothers Paul and Cassius Anglin are regular players with their sister Miriam Rodriguez [nee Anglin] serving as Secretary on the CIDA executive board.
But making his first appearance at a major tournament was their nephew Phillip Anglin. The young man was able to learn a lot about the sport on the day and is contemplating getting into darts as well.
Attractive cash prizes and plaques were awarded to the top players. In addition there were also other surprise giveaways during the evening.
The singles section saw plenty of good games from many players. Among those worthy of note were Filipino standouts Rodan Asuncion and Ray Baylon, rookie sensation Richard Campbell and Julie Mercado, one the few female players on the day.
In the end, Cliff Weeks who displayed unstoppable form all day long, defeated the reigning Caribbean champion Edsell Haylock in the singles event final. Weeks took the top honours of the tournament.
In the doubles event, Cliff Weeks and Rodan Asuncion trumped the competition to secure their first-place finish.
The pair revived their successful partnership which won them second-place in Trinidad at the 2008 Caribbean Cup Championship.
The CIDA thanked Gina Kettnar, Kevin Paschke and the rest of the staff at Cayman Distributors, suppliers of Red Stripe Beer, who sponsored the tournament.
As part of their sponsorship all players received a free Red Stripe T-shirt to commemorate the tournament.
Arthur Ebanks said: ‘We also thank the Pirates Week committee for their support of the competition and allowing it to be officially part of the Pirates Week celebrations.
‘The CIDA would also like to thank Stanley Walton and the staff of Jillian’s Billiard Lounge and Bar for the use of their venue and providing excellent service throughout the day’s activities.
‘The CIDA thanks all of the participants, without whom the event could not have been such a resounding success.
‘The association would like to especially acknowledge Matthew Yates of the Caymanian Compass newspaper who was on-hand to take photos and cover the tournament.’
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