Johor Blue Riveria Threesome Tournament

Me, Gerard and Jared

Our journey started on Saturday morning at roughly 1 am. The drive down took roughly 5 hours (due to countless stops). We arrived at our destination and by the time we checked into our hotel room and slept, it was already 7am. We were up and about by 12 and made our way to the venue. We were drawn to a group of 5 and top 4 of the group to qualify for the next day. Pretty simple you'd think. WRONG!

Now let me tell you about PROJECT 2010.

We're a group of buddies who have know each other for years. It comprises of Gerard, Jared, Wynton and myself. I picked darts back up in the year 2006 and Jared working at the pub during that time was intrigued and started to take notice. Gerard whom was really close to Jared started hanging around the pub often and followed suit in finding interest in the game. We were labelled PROJECT 2010 by one of my mentors cum team mate of the Ol Skool Aristos due to our age and 'upcomingness' in the game of darts. While i continued working hard climbing the ladder with the Ol Skool Aristos which i had joined few months later, time was not on the other boys sides. Heavy work schedules and time constraints held the boys back from training. This year, however, 1 and a half years since then, the team has got their life's on track and decided to take a small step closer in realizing the dream of 2010. We were still a man short to make a minimum full team. This is where my best friend of 16 years, Wynton joined the picture. This is how i jokingly sum up how Wynton joined us this year. See, Wynton joined us because he loves to drink beer and thought it be great to have something to do while he does what he does best, drinking. Thus, the story, the beginning and the fellowship of the team.

Back to the tournament. Like i said, it wasn't going to be the easiest of qualifying. But hell we were going to give it a shot. It was the team's goal to at least make it to the next round. The boys had been training so hard and a friendly match the Wednesday before prepared them a tad bit for today. For me it was my umpteenth tournament but for them it was their first. The boys weren't 'there' yet in terms of darts. Not too sure of their strokes, not been training rigorously, still a dart or two out of the board, but was ready to give a shot in the tournament.

Our first match started at 3pm+ and started off well with a 5-4 win on the tie-breaker. The rest of the matches were losses but we managed to qualify anyway through the immense amount of legs won. we had won 13 legs in total and that was enough to put us through. I personally was exhausted. Mentally, soulfully and physically. By the last game which was at 11pm+ (surprisingly) i was already deadbeat on the floor unable to move a muscle. My objective personally was to win all my singles and that objective was met. But it was not about me, it was about the team and the objective was definitely achieved.

The next day was a no surprise. We went down 5-2 and the tournament was over for us. We still held our heads high and learnt so much from this tournament. I personally learnt so much from this one tournament then any other tournament I've played.

So here is a small shout-out to the lovely players and friends of P2010.

To my future team, this was an experience of a life-time. To finally play with my best of friends was not only a pleasure but an honour. We played our best and managed to achieve what we set out to do. We focused on what we wanted and we made it happened. We kept on fighting no matter how good our opponents were. We kept pushing ourselves to our limits and surprised ourselves at times. We made others step up and take notice of these group of young darters who played this game with pride. Forget the losses, the misses, the anger, the disappointment, the darts thrown out the board and all that and remember the good that's come out of this. Remember how you played each of your games and analyze each and every moment we spent there and learn from it. Only then can we rise above the ashes and be born again like a phoenix. To Wynton who wasn't there, keep plugging my brother. I love the way you're playing and keep going and learn more like i know you will. To Gerard, Jared and Wynton, lets keep darting.