Interview with Cathy Leung, Dartslive Official Player (Part 1)

Recently, I had the privilege to spend some one-on-one time with the prettiest Dartslive Official Player, Cathy Leung, who flew down from Hong Kong to attend the Dartslive Singapore's League Season 7 Fiesta. She had attracted quite a lot of attention during her two days here in Singapore, spending some time doing darts promotion with the local darters as well as taking pictures and signing autographs for the enthusiastic and star-struck players.

OK, to settle the first basic question you are probably having on your mind, the answer is Yes, she is indeed a pretty lady with a humble down-to-earth personality. In case you don't already know, she is an entertainment artiste in Hong Kong who have won singing awards, made her first commercial music album, "Under the Sun" in 2007 and went on to do show hostings, stage performances, etc. As such, she is very media savvy, dealing with the infamous Hong Kong “entertainment news” reporters and is open to answering any questions that I can think of, in detail! But alas, I am not going into personal questions about the types of boyfriends she likes. And oh, the answer to other question you probably have is, Yes, she is still single!

Back to darts... Cathy's first started playing darts not at a bar or even a dojo (as is typical in Hong Kong), but at a church just about 2 years ago. Well, not really the holy chapel in a church, but rather, a youth civic center that belongs to a church. At the center, there were 4 dart boards that were under-utilised. "One day, a thought suddenly strike me. Since this place has dart boards and no one seems to be playing it or even know how to play, maybe I should give it a try", said Cathy when she first felt the urge to try darts.

Cathy Leung at Singapore's Super Knockout Tournament, 2014

"In the beginning, I don't know even how to throw darts that sticks on the board but I wanted to get my own darts. So, I went to one of Hong Kong darts dojo, Pro Darts, to buy my own set of darts. On the boards there, I remember seeing the game "Out on a Lim", where you see the animation of Paul Lim falling out of a tree. I had this silly dream where I would get to know Paul Lim and he would teach me how to play properly. And my dream did come true as I got to know Paul Lim one year later and he taught me a lot,” said Cathy delightfully. "I felt very blessed. I knew I receive a lot of care, blessings and good fortunes from many people in the darts industry within this short time.”

Cathy, who was also active in church activities, found a new inspiration to motivate herself on darts. "Initially, when i first started playing darts, the game itself was interesting. But the real motivation to improve came when I realised there was this feature on the Dartslive 2 board where you can flash your own custom message whenever an award, such as low ton or hat trick, was hit. At that time, I love to read the Bible a lot and I started putting bible verses as my custom messages. So, in order to get the verses to show up on the screen, I was very motivated to train and improve myself to get at least a low ton on every round!"

Cathy's determination to improve soon caught the eye of the owner of Pro Darts shop in Hong Kong. She explained, "One day, I went up to Pro Darts to buy some cute accessories to decorate my darts pouch. I met the Pro Darts boss and we talked and he offered me a sponsorship! I thought I needed the accessories anyway and he was willing to support me, so I agreed to sign on. He then introduced me to Paul Lim who then led me to Dartslive. Paul felt I have potential as a good female darter and gave me a a good start in the darts industry. I am also an artiste, working in the Hong Kong's entertainment industry on movie productions, CD productions, show hostings, so they felt I would be suitable to assist them in the promotion of Dartslive soft tip darts especially as a female darter and invited me to be their Official Player. I knew I was lucky to be signed up as an Official Player although I did not win many darts tournaments or awards or trophies.  Later on, I was signed up as a Target sponsored player and you know what, my first darts set was actually from Target too! I feel I am blessed and lucky to meet many people who helped open the right doors and gave me a lot of opportunities in this industry. Isn't it funny?"

Cathy Leung, at Dartslive Singapore's Super League Season 7 Fiesta

Cathy's darts mentor is Paul Lim. "Over the past 30 years, he has always been a top player, a champion. To me, I feel he is the best player. He taught me a lot more than just playing the game. He taught me how to analyse the psychological side of the game, the competitive spirit. At the elementary level, it is your technique, your stroke, your release that is important but when you go up to the master level, it is no longer the technical ability that matters any more but your attitude, your confidence, your spirit, your ability to thrive under pressure that becomes very important. That is what Paul's champion mentality is all about. That's the difference between a good player and a top player."

Cathy shares a tip on how to improve your darts, and it doesn't entail training for 100 hours! Read on in Part 2 of the interview

View Part 2 of the article here