It was an amazing end as Louis Enrik Nazarene Lopez from the Philippines and Ornong Boonyanit of Thailand won the top titles on the final day of competition at the Quayside Mall in Teluk Panglima Garang, Selangor, on Sunday.
It was indeed a fitting end as the top South-East Asian darters showed excellent form in winning the title. Thai lass Ornong Boonyanit was definitely the individual star of the event.
She first made many notice of her superb style when she teamed up with Acharaphon Singda, forming the Gear Up team, and winning the Women's Doubles title. The duo defeated Malaysian side Semarak Api in the final, bagging the RM1,500 prize money.
In the women's singles event, Ornong was in superb form, and she even had an amazing 93.3% winning rate throughout the campaign. She was again at her very best when she defeated Dewi Kembang Abdul Hamid of Malaysia in the final.
Ornong, 33, is a businesswoman who has dreams of one day winning international tournaments representing her country, and she hopes to return and play in the Selangor Open next year. She won the top prize of RM1,000 for her efforts.
The men's singles tournament was just as exciting as the women's tournament. Louis Enrik Nazarene Lopez, a chef who is based in the Philippines, was the star of the show. The 41-year-old was only placed fifth in the standings after the round-robin stage, but found his A-game in the stages.
The Filipino ace defeated Mohd Faizal Mohamad in the quarterfinals and then upset top-seeded Terry Tan Jun Hao in the semifinals. He was again in unbeatable form in the final and defeated Norisyam Sebi, a 44-year-old Malaysian policeman. For his great effort here, Lopez bagged the top prize of RM2,000 for winning the title.
For the record, the Selangor Open this year has achieved history by being the first state to offer para athletes a chance to compete in a local-international tournament featuring top players from South-East Asia.
"It has been an amazing weekend. There were some superb performances. The para darters and the juniors who took part in the tournament also stole a lot of the limelight," said Selangor Darts Association president C. Pathmanathan.
"The entries for the junior category were also very encouraging. The association is very happy to see many youngsters getting interested in darts, as they are the future of the game.
"I would like to thank all the darters who supported us and took part in the competition. The association also congratulates all the winners in all the categories. This tournament has been a success for so many years, and we hope this keeps on going well into the future."
For the record, the Selangor Open is also an international Bronze tournament in the World Darts Federation calendar. More than 200 players took part in the tournament this year. This year, the tournament also offered RM31,370 in prize money.
