Expect some of the hottest darts action you can see when the 12th Cosmo Malaysian Open Darts Championships takes off at the Flamingo Hotel in Kuala Lumpur from July 17-19.
And the one darts specialist to watch will be Lovely Mae Orbeta from the Philippines, who has confirmed her participation in the tournament. Not only is she the defending Malaysian Open champion, but she is also the current WDF World Cup Women’s Champion, and she will be determined to win the tournament again.
Last year, the 20-year-old Orbeta, who ranks no. 84 in the WDF main ranking for women, shot to fame when she defeated Paula Murphy of the United States in the Women's Singles finals to deliver her country's first-ever golden finish in the tournament.
The Philippines, after a fantastic outing in 2025, aims to have another sterling showing in the tournament this year. It was also confirmed that the 2025 Men's Open Singles champion, Christian Perez of the Philippines, will be participating and will be defending his title in KL.
Their participation ensures a hot reception for all the darters in the competition, as the organisers confirmed that there will be a total of 1,008 players competing for honours this year.
Besides the Philippines, other international players from Singapore, Thailand, India and Brunei have also confirmed for the competition, Malaysia's foremost annual darts championships. On top of that, the tournament will also, for the first time, see two Mongolian darters taking part in the women's section of the tournament.
In total up to this stage, there will be 137 outfits competing in the team section, 52 teams in the women's doubles section, 270 in the men's open singles section and 72 players in the women's singles section.
For the record, the top Malaysian darts competition is also a silver event category in the World Darts Federation (WDF) calendar.
This year's tournament has also been boosted after the organisers of the tournament announced that it will also feature RM56,500 in prize money.
Malaysia Darts Association president Nancy Ambrose said that the organisers will strive harder to make the tournament a big success this year.
"We are always aiming to make it even better every year with more teams and top dart players participating in the tournament," said Nancy.
"We also aim to make this tournament a top competition in the region in the future. But we are hoping for more sponsors next year as we aim to make the tournament a major show in the international calendar.
"I also like to thank Cosmo for their continued support in being our title sponsor," she added.
Among the top players confirmed for participation is the Philippines' contingent of Christian Perez, Noel Malicdem, Rolly Gabiana, Dolreich Tongcopanon, Sonny Balagat, Christine De Los Reyes and Christopher Melo.
Hong Kong top darter Royden Lam has also confirmed that he will be vying for top honours in the competition. Another darter to look out for in the tournament is Ornong Boonyanit of Thailand in the women's section. Others challenging for honours in the women's section is the Filipinas contingent of Janice Hinojales, Giselle Bulahao, besides Lovely Mae and Aileen.
