Sarawak darts challenge hits the mark
by Ghaz Ghazali · Borneo Post OnlineKUCHING (Dec 24): What many people often see is a pub game is now a competitive sport, judging from the reception for the just-concluded Sarawak Closed 2025 Double Darts Challenge.
Organised by Royalbull 55, led by Awang Affendi Awang Daud, the inaugural competition took place on the ground floor of Riverside Shopping Mall here, where over 250 darters gathered to test their skills and also stand a chance of winning the attractive prizes.
The event, which received support from Sarawak Darts Association, comprised round-robin challenges to select top contenders for the Gold and Silver finishes.
“The initial target was for us to host 96 two-member teams, but we’re pleasantly surprised to receive 136 teams.
“They come from Kuching, Sri Aman, Simunjan and Bintulu, and they come from all backgrounds: new and seasoned players; men and women; young and old.
“The youngest contestant is 12 years old, while the oldest is aged 78, representing TSC, which is also the largest contingent with 13 teams,” Awang Affendi, also head of Royalbull 55, told The Borneo Post.
The retired firefighter said the core objective of the competition was to further develop darts as a valid sport in Sarawak.
“We have a registered association, so yes, this is a sport.
“Plus, it can be considered as a target sport just like archery and shooting.
“Indeed, we have good talents that can take this sport further than it is now.
“For this competition, there are many new and young darters who, apart from gaining more competitive experience, are also learning a lot from the seasoned players,” said Awang Affendi, 61.
The competition also featured soft-tip darts which, despite the name, appear similar to the conventional darts, but the difference is they are primarily designed for use with electronic dartboards, which automatically detect where a dart lands and tally the score on a digital display, doing away with manual scorekeeping.
For Sarawak Closed 2025, the organiser had set up a soft-tip section with support from JustDart, the official dealer of Dartslive machine in East Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Royalbull 55 SR won the Gold Plate after outplaying Royalbull 55 UR in the finals.
This top division comprised the Top 3 teams from the knock-out rounds, from which those ranked fourth and fifth were placed in the lower-division Silver Plate finals.
For their feat, Royalbull 55 SR took home the trophy, medals and the RM3,000 cash prize, while Royalbull 55 UR walked away with RM1,500.
Placing joint third were TSC Kingz FD and Hazicont 1, each bagging RM500.
The teams placing fifth to eighth each received RM200, while those ranked ninth to 16th were each given RM100.
The Silver Plate honour went to SIK TAUK 1, earning their darters RM300, while the first-runner up Firebull pocketed RM200.
At joint third were Royalbull 55 MM and Gagogank Tiga – each receiving RM100.
Those finishing fifth and eighth were given medals.
There were also subsidiary prizes, each offering RM100: the ‘Fastest Finish 15 Dart (Below), which was claimed TSC Kingz FD through their 12-dart finish; and the ‘Highest Checkout 121 Above’ scored by RoyalBull 55 UR with 142.