Team manger Michael Suresh Kumar (centre) with the Selangor darters at the event being played at Maju Junction in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, Dec 17, 2023. - Photo courtesy of Selangor team
KUALA LUMPUR: Unbeaten Selangor leads the local charge at the inaugural PDD Malaysia Cup 2023 with brilliant performances in the tournament being played at the Maju Junction in Kuala Lumpur.
Selangor won all their three matches in the preliminary round and will take on Kedah in the quarterfinals.
Team manager Michael Suresh Kumar said he was very happy with his side's performance and hope they can keep it going all the way to the final.
"The player have been simply superb and displayed good form on Saturday. We are determined to keep it going today but will take one match at a time," said Michael.
In another highly-anticipated quarterfinals, South-East Asian rivals Thailand and Brunei will meet in the last eight match. Both invited teams were among the favourites to take the overall title. The other invited team India failed to make the last eight stage.
The other quarterfinals today will see Malaysian Police taking on Johor while Perak will go up against Perlis.
Malaysian darts can also catch all the action live at: https://youtube.com/@ProfessionalDartsDeveloper?si=HYK9_Jey1YRcc-LN
The two-day event features 11 state teams, along with Malaysian uniformed bodies and the three invited guest nations (Brunei, Thailand and India).
The opening ceremony was held at the Maju Junction at 9am on Saturday. The ceremony was officiated by Nancy Ambrose, the President of Malaysian Darts Association and Pathma C.R., the co founder of PDD.
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.
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.
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.
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 which ends tonight at the Maju Junction Mall in Kuala Lumpur.
