The Darts Association of Guyana is hosting the Darts National Championship on November 3 and 4 at the CCWU Sports Bar.
Players are expected to compete in six categories: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles, mixed triples and a four-member tournament, Association President Grantley Culbard said at the launching last Tuesday.
Culbard said the sport only has limited sponsorship and funding so nationals are held bi-annually. However, they are motivated by the fact that the world body for darts is looking at the possibility of making it an Olympic sport in the near future. He acknowledged that “We have produced good players that have played in the world championships though we never got past the first round when we were there.”
Culbard also said that while the sport is struggling, the association is doing its best to keep it going. “The darts association is not an affluent association, we are struggling but we are trying to keep it going…. we hope to bring darts back to where it use to be because at one point it was swarming the nation,” he said.
Meanwhile vice-president of the national association Raymond Williams indicated that each category of the competition will have its own sponsor, adding that he hopes to keep all sponsors on board since the sport does not generate much interest. The mixed doubles event is being sponsored by the GNNL, the mixed triples by Apex Insurance Brokers, the Men’s Doubles by Queensway, the four team tourney by the New GPC, the women’s singles by Dr Terrence Joseph and the men’s singles by John Fernandes Ltd.
A practice session for all players will be held today at the CCWU Sports Bar. Registration for the two-day event will take place on the same day of the competition.
