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KUALA LUMPUR/BANGKOK: Some of the best darters from Brunei, Thailand and India have confirmed their participation the inaugural PDD Malaysia Cup 2023 kicks off at the Maju Junction Mall on Saturday (Dec 16).
The two-day event will feature 11 state teams, along with Malaysian uniformed bodies and the three invited guest nations (Brunei, Thailand and India).
The team event is expected to give a shot in the arm for darts in Malaysia, which has been officially recognised as a sport by the Ministry of Youth and Sports earlier this year.
Organised by PDD (Professional Darts Developer), the event is a culmination of a dream by the founders of PDD to take Malaysian darts to the next level by staging a year-long series of state darts events where participants accumulate points to qualify for a grand final in Kuala Lumpur.
Thailand's team will be led by Sarayut Ouamumpa, Sorawis Rodman, Natthakhom and Wiwat Pannom while Brunei's team will be led by Abang Serabah Abbas, Sapli Sapar, Noor Alimen Rias and Mohd Aleedris.
Meanwhile, India also will be led by an all powerful team comprising AAL Nakeran, Nitin Kumar, Suketu Ahir, Shailender Singh.
All the players are learnt to have taken part in international tournaments and will be among the favourites to take the overall title from the local darters.
The local darters, however, are no pushovers.
The local challenge will be led by a Selangor side led by state champion R. Anbaarajan and teammates Duncan Vincent, Praveen Nair and Nasir Jantan. Other teams that can give the favourites a run for their money includes home side Kuala Lumpur, Johor, the Police and the Malaysian army boys.
The aim of the tournament is to develop the sport at the grassroots level and unearth new talent that can be groomed to become top players and take part in future top international tournaments.
“Our main objective is to make it viable for Malaysian darters to make a living from playing darts, or at the very least supplement their income for now.
"Since darts has been gazetted as an official sport by the Youth and Sports Ministry, we hope to try to bring in more sponsors and money into the tournaments we organise so that our local darters can compete and excel against some of the best darters in the region,” said Pathma C.R., the co founder of PDD.
The 11 states who will be participating in the PDD Malaysia Cup 2023 are Federal Territory, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Perak, Terengganu, Kedah, Melaka, Penang, Perlis and Sarawak. They will be joined by the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), along with invited nations India, Brunei and Thailand.
“We are delighted to have the Police and Armed Forces participate in the tournament as well as they have a large pool of active players and we hope this tournament will motivate these players to improve their game through the exposure to other top players in the country and region,” said Pathma.
“We are also thankful that three countries accepted our invitation to take part as this would give the tournament some added prestige.”
The champion of the tournament will walk away with RM5,000 and medals. The second places team bags RM2,500 while the third placed team go home with RM1,000 and the fiurth placed team receive RM500.
Entry for fans to watch the tournament is free. All darts and sporting fans are invited to attend the exciting two-day affair at the Maju Junction Mall in Kuala Lumpur.
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