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Darts in India - Update October
2005
EXCITING TWO MONTHS FOR INDIAN
DARTERS
…and a steep learning curve
Darts as a sport is
growing fast in India and during September and October individuals and teams
from that country were involved in no less than four major events writes
Patrick Chaplin.
One of the most
successful Indian dart players in recent times is Ashfaque Sayed, captain of the
Maharashtra State team. When he spoke to me in late 2004 Ashfaque told me of his
short-term goals for the year ahead. However, at the time what he was asking of
himself and his wife Ayesha (a top Indian ladies’ darts player) seemed
incredible. Ashfaque told me, “I wanted to win the Men’s Indian National Singles
darts title 2005, participate in the Singapore Open 2005, be a part of
the Indian team hoping to qualify to attend the World Cup 2005, promote the
sport of darts in my region and across my country and to see my wife Ayesha
alongside me as a best Indian women’s darts player.”
Sounds like a tall
order? Let me tell you, Ashfaque achieved it all.
He and Ayesha
trained hard throughout the year for two months of top class darts competition;
their first target being the 3rd National Darts Championship held in
New Delhi in September. At that event Ashfaque regained his National title
beating Yash Lakhotia from
West Bengal 3-0 and Ayesha won her
first-ever national ladies title beating Amrita Raha of West Bengal 3-2.
Ayesha thus went one better than in the last two years when she had was beaten
in the semi-finals.
Then, to make it a
real family affair Ashfaque and his brother Mateen won the national Men’s
Doubles 2-1, beating the
West Bengal pairing
of Mohan Goel & Elvis Jackson.
The second leg of
their ‘tour’ was the Singapore Open held from 12th to 14th
August at the Orchid Club. Ashfaque and Ayesha attended along with fellow
darters Aneesha Mehta and their manager Prashanta Saha from
West Bengal.
Prashanta had to play because key player Vinod Sawlani was not able to reach
Singapore as planned.
It was their first ever international event and they were therefore undoubtedly
nervous. Although they did their best, Ashfaque told me, “We did not fare good
as anticipated.”
Ashfaque made it
through to the second round of the Men’s Singles but then lost by two games to
three Paul Morier from
Singapore.
Ashfaque said, “Mr, Morier is a reputed player. We were two-all and in the
decider I missed double tops and he snatched the game.”
Ayesha was ranked 9th
in the Singapore Open. By a combination of skill, being given a ‘bye’ and with
fewer women players being there than expected, Ayesha made it to the top ten but
failed to accrue any points. Prashanta and Aneesha were, according to Ashfaque
“unfortunate not to perform.”
Although not making
much headway in the competition, Ashfaque and his team-mates enjoyed being
there. “We learnt quite a bit from the international players from Singapore and
Malaysia” said Ashfaque “and took tips from C. C Poh and Ravi Sandiran, two good
players from that region.”
Next up was the
2005 Pacific Masters held in Perth, Australia. Ashfaque fought through to the
third round where he beat a player from the Seychelles, eventually being knocked
out by a Dutch player in the fourth. All the other Indian team members lost in
the first round including Ayesha.
But losing
had its rewards in as much as Ashfaque, Ayesha, Aneesha and Prashanta were able
to spend the rest of the day watching some of the world’s best men and women
players in action for the first time. Ashfaque said, “It was a real treat for us
to watch top darters like Andy Fordham, Tony O’Shea, Raymond Van Barneveld,
Trina Gulliver, Clare Bywaters and Simon Whitlock. They were all amazing
wizards!!! Watching them was a great learning experience. Andy Fordham is a
most popular bloke and yes the pretty Trina is a celebrity and probably the most
popular player.”
Then it was time
for ‘The Big One’ -World Cup 2005. The India World Cup men’s team consisted of
Ashfaque Sayed (Maharashtra),
Elvis Jackson (West Bengal), Mohan Goel (West Bengal) and Amir Javeed
(Andhra Pradesh). The women’s team were Ayesha Sayed (Maharashtra) and Amrita
Raha (West Bengal) whilst in the youth team were Aditya Raha (Boys Youth - West
Bengal) and Sagarika Mukesh (Girls Youth – Bihar). Once again in attednace was
the Team Manager Mr Prashanta Saha.
Ashfaque probably
wasn’t doing himself justice when he told me “The continuation of the onslaught
on us was expected.” On the first day Ashfaque did beat a good Irish player
(ranked 42nd out of 120 in the World Cup averages). “I considered
that a personal victory” said Ashfaque, “as I was ranked 108th out of
120 with an average of 19.70.” In the singles Ashfaque lost in the next round
to Arthur Valle of Brazil.
In the Doubles
Ashfaque paired with Elvis Jackson and faced the Singapore pairing of K.
Kamruddin and Shaun say Kong. The two Indian players strode into a 2-0 lead but
then lost four sets in a row to lose 2-4. In the women’s section Amrita Raha
and Ayesha, after losing the Singles, seemed to be on a winning streak in the
ladies doubles but then lost to the Brazilians 2-3.
The youth players,
played well but experienced mixed fortunes and, as Ashfaque stated, they missed
a lot of opportunities. However, Ashfaque added, “Aditya Raha is a promising
lad. He has been playing darts since a long time and at the national level has
been unlucky not making it beyond the semi finals. In the world cup at
Perth his
match with the English team was exciting. Aditya was thrilled when the English
team presented him with the Puma Bandit Dart board which he was very excited
about. Our girls youth player Sagarika is a relative newcomer to darts
but will turn good with experience and practice.
Ashfaque and his
fellow team members went to the World Cup knowing that the chance of bringing
away any trophies was remote - and they were right. But Ashfaque is
philosophical. He told me, “We knew that playing in the internationals was going
to be a steep learning curve for us all and so it proved to be, but we have
taken much good advice back to India with us and are working hard to improve on
our performances for next time.” He added, “We have learnt a lot from our
mistakes too .Personally I have now shelved my heavy darts and have jumped back
to 22-24 grams and am already seeing the difference.”
What also impressed
Ashfaque and the rest of the team was the friendly atmosphere that permeated the
World Cup. Ashfaque said, “It was an amazing sight to see darters from different
cultures and countries mixing with each other. What particularly impressed me
was the tradition of exchanging mementos and souvenirs with each other.”
Unfortunately no one had alerted the India team to that tradition. “Next time”
said Ashfaque, “We will bring loads of souvenirs from India to share with our
international darts friends.” Ashfaque was also amazed to find so many people
who wanted to know more about India. He told me, “This was very honouring for
us.”
Ashfaque receives
sponsorship from Puma. Considering preparation fro the future Ashfaque said,
“Puma has been kind enough to send me the new set of darts in support of our
sponsorship agreement and I have received some Pro Trainer Boards from them
which have thin doubles and trebles bands for practice purposes. As a result of
what I have learned over the past months I am hoping to elevate my game over the
days and months to come.” He especially wants to work on reaching an average of
25 on a consistent basis and then proceed step by step to the late 20's. “I am
sure it’s a lot of hard work and I will be practising hard, not only on my
scoring but also on my out-shots. My heart as well as my mind says it’s
achievable.”
So what does the
future hold? “More and more practice for us all” said Ashfaque, “so that we
build a strong India darts team and enable Team India to ROAR!!! It’s a matter
of two years for Team
India
to roar - God willing.
With such a
challenge ahead you would have thought that Ashfaque’s final thoughts would have
been to talk about strategy or rush off and practice, but no. “Last but not the
least,” said Ashfaque, “I want to pay my gratitude to all the Australians for
the hospitality they showered on us. They are a zestful lot. Every moment at
Perth was a memorable experience for us. We thank all Aussies for the wonderful
stay we had. And to Betty Hislop and her organising committee and team of
helpers -well done - a great event managed very well.
With so many of
Ashfaque’s earlier wish-list coming true in such a short space of time I think
the message is clear. Look out world! The lion of India will soon be roaring
through the world of darts!
Additional Information:
© Patrick Chaplin
2005
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