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Chinese darters challenge world-class
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-12-10 08:53
A group of China's top darts players began their challenge to the world's top
professionals in the Global Cup Pro Darts Championship opening on Thursday.
It is the first darts tournament in Asia, with so many world-class
professionals involved. "It's a historical, bridge stone tournament," said
Freddie Williams, a veteran referee of England, who is invited to officiate the
event here.
The eight Chinese were selected from the two-day China Open tournament, which
closed here on Wednesday. The tournament, sixth in the annual series, drew a
record field of 144 players from across the country, including those from Tibet
Autonomous Region and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).
Invited to the four-day, 60,000 US dollars Global Cup event are eight elite
professionals including the top seven in the Professional Darts Corporation's
provisional world rankings. The annual world rankings are finalized in January.
Among them are world number one Colin Lloyd, No. 2 Phil Taylor and No. 3
Peter Manley, all from England. They are accompanied by No. 4 John Part of
Canada, No.5 Roland Scholten of the Netherlands, No. 7 Kevin Painter of England,
No. 8 Wayne Mardle of England and another world-class pro, John Lowe of England,
now ranked 32nd in the world.
Nicknamed The Power, Phil Taylor, the most successful darts player of his
generation, has established himself as the greatest darts player of all time.
The Power has dominated the sport since the mid-nineties and went for nearly two
years unbeaten in a live televised match between 1999-2001 and he has won the
world championship title for a record 11 times.
Taylor hit the elusive perfect 9 darts finish at the 2002 Stan James World
Matchplay Championship, during his quarter-final encounter with Chris Mason. In
doing so he became the first man in eleven years to do so on TV and the first
ever on live satellite broadcast.
The game of darts was introduced into China during the 1990s and the
non-Olympic sport has experienced a process of unsteady growth in the world's
most populous country. The national sports authorities have organized such
national tournaments as the China Open.
The game's national organization Chinese Darts Association (CDA) was founded
in September this year and it is now trying to become a member organization of
the game's world governing body The World Darts Federation.
The Global Cup has been schemed to raise the awareness and promote the game
among Chinese, CDA officials said.
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