Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Stamina, superb support and ‘lucky sixteen’ played pivotal roles in Bahrain Yacht Club A’s sensational victory in the early hours of Saturday at the first-ever Open Darts Tournament held at Bahrain Rugby Club.
Charismatic captain Nabeel Sulaibeekh finished the contest off after more than six-and-a-half hours of competitive action in the new sports hall with three outstanding throws, notching two consecutive single 16s and a double 16 against a fearless Filipino Darts Team A in a final dramatic doubles encounter.
The Yacht Club A’s squad of six, namely Sulaibeekh, 47, Abdulla Subahi, 33, Sadeq Dasmal, 39, Hassan Haji, 41, Arif Abbas, 41, and team leader/co-ordinator Yusuf Yaqoobi, 40, and their supporters danced for joy and lifted the roof with their noisy celebrations.
“Sixteen is my lucky number! I even jokingly predicted that was how I was going to finish off the tournament,” said a delighted Sulaibeekh.
The winners walked away with a prize packet containing BD600 and a trophy and Filipino runners-up, namely Rainier Entereso, 29, Richard Agulay, 44, Loue Maybituin, 34, and Marvin Rosalina, 31, picked up a cup and BD300 prize money.
Subahi also received BD50 for achieving the highest check-out of 136 in an impressive display of darts finishing.
Filipino A beat early tournament favourites The British Club of Bahrain, featuring Sean Cocker, 46, Stewart Walters, 51, Chris Dymond, 56, and Aref Murad, 39, the event’s co-organiser, in a hard-fought semi-final clash and Bahrain Yacht Club A dismissed Bahrain Darts’ Saeed Durazi, Mahmood Abdal Rahman, Yasser Hassan and Ahmed Grashir in their last four challenge.
Twenty teams, made up of a minimum of four and a maximum of eight players, registered to take part in the event organised in association with Bahrain Darts and Darts Bay in Umm Al Hassam.
The tournament started at 7.30pm and the slow play with four groups of five teams competing before the knock-out stages had the organisers frantically considering changing the rules but they decided to carry on in the interests of fair play. The teams had to play three singles worth a point apiece and two doubles worth two points each.
Co-organiser Jason Smith, who arrived at the venue at 7am to ensure it was ready for action, said the early evening session ‘created a superb buzz’ and lessons had been learned from the experience. In future each match is likely to be subject to a time limit to avoid issues over smoking and comfort breaks.
His colleague Murad said: “I think we have shown there is an audience and desire for live darts action in Bahrain.”
