Team Singapore is ready for IDF 2014

On June 8, 2014, Dartslive Singapore held a selection tournament to determine who will be representing Singapore in the IDF World Cup 2014. The best male and female player will be selected to join Paul Lim and Harith Lim to form Team Singapore. The talented players who won the selection were Alan Chau and Goh Xue Er. Both were first timers to the IDF event.

The International Darts Federation have been holding their soft tip darts World Cup series in Shanghai since 2010. This year, it will be held at the Pullman Shanghai South Hotel, from Aug 14 to Aug 17, 2014. THE WORLD Stage 3 will also be held at the same place on Aug 17.

Alan Chau and Xue Er

This is the first time Alan Chau tried for the IDF selection and he feels lucky to be able to qualify. "Although this is not the first time that I play for Singapore in an overseas darts event, the feeling is different because I have 2 pro players playing alongside me. So I will just try my best, " said Alan.

"Before joining the selection, I felt I stand a chance. Everyone stands a chance. I just want to see if I can qualify. In fact, there were also other equally qualified players like Bernard Chong, who came in 2nd, Jin Kuang and Vinson Heng."

Playing in the IDF national team event is not easy as the game format demands for the best performance of all the members. A single strong player is not enough to carry the team to victory. Alan understood this, "There is a certain pressure to perform because this is a team event. It is not like playing individually where I do not have any issue with, but now, playing alongside them, there is some pressure to perform. I will just try my best and see how well I can support them."

When asked what were our chances of winning, Alan shared, "I got two Pro players beside me so its up to us. Of course, if we play well, we will stand a chance. "

As for his training plan, Alan had already been preparing for the IDF, "I've been playing day in day out because I love this game, so I've been playing consistently." Alan also shared how to improve your playing standards by participating in the Count Up Club 1000 (CC1K) event. The event only qualifies those players who managed to hit at least 1000 points on a game of Count Up. "Based on this event, I can see that the standard of the players is getting better and better. It is a very good event."

Alan have travelled overseas many times for darts tournaments but often he did not get the chance to see the sights of the host countries. He shared, "While in Shanghai, I would like to visit some of the places there and enjoy the local food. All along, when I go overseas for tournament, many times I don't have chance to enjoy as I have to go all out for the tournament and prepare myself for the tournament. This time round, I hope I can find the time to enjoy the food down there and see some of the the scenery."

As for the ladies champion, Xue Er, this is the first time that she was selected to represent Singapore to go to an overseas tournament. She shared, "Of course, I feel great to be able to represent Singapore in an overseas tournament and to get this kind of international exposure. I feel really very fantastic."

"Before the selection event, I didn't have high hope of winning," confided Xue Er. "I just told myself to just go and do my best. I try to treat the event as a training and get more exposure for myself. There were other equally qualified lady players like Cindy Wong, but honestly speaking there are not many good lady players out there and I hope to see more lady players join the darts scene"

In order to help develop more lady players, we need to have more ladies in-house games or ladies tournaments. "Actually I do see a lot of lady players out there but they don't have the courage to participate in events. We should have a bit more ladies-only games because you see a lot of mens tournament like CC1K but there is always a gap when the ladies have to fight with the mens. I think there should be a separation of the mens and ladies in tournaments."

Although Xue Er have played with Harith and Paul on casual basis, playing on the same team with them in a high level tournament is a different thing altogether. "Of course, I feel stressed but excited at same time. I hope I can just do my best for the team"

The lady player plays a crucial role in the IDF national team event. This is because of the game format which requires the lady player to be as equally talented as the mens. Xue Er shared her training plans, "I have to train more with my partners. Intensive training and exposure is most important but at the same time, do not get too overstress."

Finally, Xue Er had already decided what she will be doing after the darts tournament is over in Shanghai: "I wanna party and drink!"

Good darts to Team Singapore at IDF 2014!

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Team Singapore powers to 3rd place in IDF National Team event 2013!

Team Singapore had arrived home after a successful outing at the International Darts Federation (IDF) World Championship 2013 in Shanghai, China recently. Represented by Harith Lim, Kristine Lim, Yinn Cheng, Paul Lim, Pau Jin Kuang and Tony Teo, the team performed much better than last year, reaching a new peak of Joint 3rd place. Read about our previous chat with the team members during their preparation.

1. Team Singapore in IDF 2013, Shanghai

This year's World Championship attracted more than 400 dart players from around the world as well as the host country, China. The hall at Shanghai East Asia Exhibition Hall was huge and there were many many boards available. The event was played over 4 days, Aug 22-25 culminating with THE WORLD Stage 5 on the last day. The champion of The World was The Gunner, Lourence Illagan, while our own Paul Lim narrowly missed the chance, coming in as the runners up.

2. Paul Lim giving a pep talk to the team

In the IDF Team event, Singapore was pitted in Group D with powerhouse Team USA and Team UK, along with our regional neighbours, Team Malaysia and Team Thailand.

3. Team Singapore with Team Malaysia

In the first Round Robin game, Team Singapore beat Team Malaysia 9 - 4. The quartet of Paul Lim, Harith, Tony Teo and Kristine was put to task straight away with the first hurdle against our neighbour. Kristine showed that she was no rookie as she held her nerves grabbing a couple of crucial points for a sweet victory.

Thailand was next as Captain Paul Lim led the Spore Lions to 5-3 only for the stubborn Thais to level the game to 6 games all! The final gallon game (4-some) was running neck-to-neck with the Thais grabbing the lead n sitting at what seems to be a formality balance of 22. Captain Paul Lim’s bull balance would have been useless if not for Tony Teo, whose only option was to freeze the Thais. And that he did with a last dart at triple 19 to allow Captain Paul to a 2 darts finish ( single 18 then double 16 ) for a rousing victory ! Team Singapore wins 7 -  6 against Team Thailand!

On the next day of the Team Event, with Dartslive Official and seasoned campaigner Harith Lim down and out with fever, team reserve Pau Jin Kuang was put on the ‘oche’ for the first time. Team USA, with The World 2012 Champion, Scott Kirchner was too much to handle as Team S’pore bowed out gracefully but not after securing 3 vital points ! Team Singapore loses 3 - 10 to the Americans.

Next up, was the British Team. A short pep talk by Captain Paul Lim was all that was needed as Team Singapore faced a British Team made up of 2 PDC players in Tony Martin and Mark Webster. They shot great. However, the freeze rule in the 01’s did not really complement the lads as Singapore took an early 2-0 lead. Then, belief sets in as we raced ahead to 6-2 when doubles pair of Tony / Kristine, Paul / Jin Kuang both won in the fourth round of cricket. Paul and Tony held the next 2 points before the four combined to complete a sensational victory in the final 701 gallon with a final score of 9-4. And so with 3 wins in the Round Robin, a beaming Team Singapore marched through to the next stage - the Knock Out rounds.

4. Team Singapore with Team Britain

5. IDF 2013 Team event - Round robin scores

In the first Single Knockout game, Team Singapore was faced with Team Mongolia. The game format was race to 7 legs. In the earlier events, the Mongolian players were performing exceptionally well especially the Ladies,  who grabbed second spots both in the singles and doubles finals ! However, that was not to be with Paul Lim at the helm of Team Singapore. Our boys and girls played well to wrap up the game with a quick and decisive 7-0 victory to proceed into the Quarter finals round!

A sense of achievement and confidence filled the air as Team Singapore warmed up for the first time in IDF history for a spot in the top 4 knowing the Koreans were just as determined. There was no letting up now and the game started one all, then two all. Paul and Harith went one gear up and Singapore soon led 4-2 ! It was Paul Lim again for the next point in the cricket. At 5-3, history was in the making with the doubles pair Tony / Harith , Paul / Kristine sealing the result which will be remembered for a long long time ! Team Singapore beats Team Korea 7-3 to gain a spot in the Top 4 teams, its best ranking spot in IDF history!

6. Team Singapore with Team Korea

In the semi-finals, an opportunity to level the first game went astray when Captain Paul Lim narrowly missed the double 18 for a 156 finish. Very quickly, the team went down 4-0 after that. Although, we made a gallant effort to hold the next 2 points and took another 2 from the 5th game cricket to trail 4-6, there was no stopping the reliable Filipino number 1 player, Lourence Illagan, as he finished with a black bull, to put an end to what would have been a marvelous run by the Singapore Team !  Semi finals results : Team Singapore 4 – Philippines 7.

For the record, Team Philippines went on to beat Team USA in the final to win the IDF Team Event. Congratulations to all players of the Team Singapore 2013! This was the best achievement for the team in the IDF events. We are all proud of you guys!

7. Team Singapore with Team Philippines

Related story : Team Singapore prepares for IDF 2013
Content contributed by Roger Liu

Pictures 1,5 are Copyright © International Dart Federation & DARTSLIVE

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Team Singapore prepares for IDF 2013

Last month, Dartslive Singapore held a selection tournament to select the best male and female player to join Paul Lim and Harith Lim to form a Team Singapore to participate in the IDF World Cup 2013. The talented players that won the selection were Tony Teo and Kristine Lim. They will also be joined by the runners-up, Pau Jin Kuang and Yinn Cheng, as part of Team Singapore.

The International Darts Federation have been holding their World Cup series in Shanghai since 2010. This year, it will be held at the East Asia Exhibition Hall (next to Shanghai Stadium) from Aug 21 to Aug 25, 2013. THE WORLD Stage 5 will be co-running at the same place on Aug 25.

IDF 2013 Team Singapore - (from left) Harith Lim, Yinn Cheng, Kristine Lim, Pau Jin Kuang, Tony Teo, Paul Lim

Last week, Paul Lim came to Singapore to do a 2-day training session with the whole Team Singapore and came away with a stronger hope of achieving a better win this year. Paul had this to say about Tony Teo, "I've known Tony for a few years now and I have always regarded Tony as a pretty strong player. A player that could hold his own. A player who can play well under pressure."

Tony Teo is working hard preparing for the tournament. He shared, "This is my first time playing with Paul Lim together in a team. I have heard from others that the IDF tournament is very good. So far, I feel Team Singapore is not very far away from the rest and hope we can do well and win the Champion title, of course. I have not been to Shanghai before but I am proud to be there with them as part of Team Singapore."

Tony on the line

Tony knew that playing overseas is always different than at home with the local players. "In Singapore, we know most of the players and have played with them before. But playing overseas is a little different. We don't know the opponents, we don't know their strategies. So we have to keep ourselves mentally fit and fight all the way, that's all. If we win, we take it. If we lose, we still have to take it. So, don't worry too much and just do it!", advised Tony.

The other male players in the team are Jin Kuang and Harith Lim. Harith have been doing well this year, he won 3rd place in this year's THE WORLD Stage 1 event in Hong Kong. "Compared to last year, I think Harith is more involved into darts now," Paul Lim shared. "The way he is throwing right now - he is throwing really, really well. As for me, I'm always the same - I will contribute my best. So, I think, I am not worried about the guys, the guys should definitely make it through."

(from left) Yinn Cheng and Kristine Lim 

Kristine Lim, the lady winner, also agreed. She had seen the guys play and is confident they can help pull the team through. "They are all very good, especially Jin Kuang. I was so impressed as I thought he is quite a new player. But when I see the way he play, wah, I was very amazed. I feel he has very good potential."

Kristine herself have been training hard and often, usually with Yinn Cheng, who is also her league team mate. Kristine confided, "I am actually a bit fearful of playing IDF as I heard the darters there are very good and Singapore darters may not be as strong as them but I hope we can make it. Hopefully we can train more with the guys so at least we know the chemistry between our partners and understand each other's game more."

The IDF world cup team event is organized a little differently compared to other tournaments. In most of the other soft tip or steel tip tournaments, the ladies events are usually held separately from the mens events. In the IDF format,  the ladies play a big part in the team and they are very involved, playing with the guys together. Paul feels, "Actually, you can say that the IDF event is a more true 'team event' with the guys and girls contributing to the team. I can't say the system is good or bad. Its just a system that we have to deal with."

Paul had seen the Team Singapore ladies play during the training sessions and he knows the ladies are going to be a crucial part of the team. "I have known Kristine for a long time now, " shared Paul, "but I have not seen Yinn Cheng play before this. After watching her play last night, I think she is pretty steady. More importantly is how they perform during big tournaments as I have not seen them play before. But based on what I've seen, what they can do last night , they will have to perform their best for us to have a chance.  Honestly, I have faith in them though.  The team need to support each other. The guys need to give more positive , confidence approach towards the ladies. I think that's what they need. With a bit of a luck hopefully, we should have a better chance than what we did last year. Definitely, we will have a better chance than last year."

There are many strong teams in the IDF World Cup Team event, among the strongest ones are teams from Britain, Australia, Croatia, US, Russia and Japan. Paul shares, "I definitely know there are a lot more stronger countries participating. But it really depends on the day itself. Just take one game at a time. If we perform the way we can, the way I believe we can, we really have a shot against any country out there."

Let us wish IDF 2013 Team Singapore - Good darts ! Good Luck ! Jia You!

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IDF World Cup Darts chat with River Ang and Loh Yi-Shin

This article is the second half of the interview with our players who travelled to Shanghai to participate in the IDF (International Darts Federation) Darts World Cup Shanghai on 6-9 November, 2012. The event is a premier world class darts tournament held in Shanghai and sponsored by Dartslive. It attracted participants from more than 20 countries from around the world ! Team Singapore was represented by Paul Lim, Harith Lim, Kelvin Yap and Loh Yi-Shin. We had a chat with two of our players Loh Yi-Shin and River Ang to share their experiences in Shanghai with our readers. Read the first part of this interview with Harith Lim and Paul Lim

Q. What ambitions did you initially have when travelling to Shanghai?

River - As participation in Team Event was based on nationality, I played with the Malaysian team. I was hoping to win the PRO Singles event. However, I manage to beat only 2 players in that event, one from Canada and another was from Malaysia.
Shin - My ambition was a lot simpler, I just wanted to improve my own rating and not be a burden to the guys in the competition as I knew I was still way off from the international ladies standard. No wild dreams there.

Q. In general, what was the standard of the players that you met at the IDF ?

Shin - Following the reply above, I should have harboured some wild dreams as there were some mixture of standards for the ladies in the competition, depending on the luck of draw. Overall, I would guess the ladies' rating range from 8-14.
River - Most of the players are world class standard, especially the Croatians!

Team Singapore - (left-right) Paul Lim, Kelvin Yap, Harith Lim, Shin

Q. Tell us about your team's performance in the Team event?

Shin - Our first game was against Philippines and the psychological block was there as I knew the standards of the players personally, thinking that they were much stronger. It was mainly my fault as I could not check, holding up my partners when they could have the chance to check the 01 games. I lost all my games. If I were to just win one game, the scoreline could have been totally different as in the end we only lost 5-8. After this game, however, with the positive encouragement from my teammates, we managed to bounce back comfortably for the rest of the matches with Switzerland and Taiwan. In the team event against Switzerland and Taiwan, I was more stable in the check out and the scoring. It helped as my stronger partners would then have no worries while scoring and checking.
River - I played with Team Malaysia which consist of Amin, his wife and his son. Amin asked me to play with them. We didn't do very well though and didn't progress far.

Q. After proceeding into the Single knockout round, Team Singapore crashed out against Slovenia. What happen there?

Shin - In the round robin games, we had to play all 13 matches. However, in the Single knockout, the team that reach first 7 games will win. We were holding our own steadily against Slovenia until one game was lost. And after that, we eventually lost. Not exactly a crash out, but somewhat similar to the opponent breaking our serve in a tennis game. And once the game was lost, the set was lost. No reprieve. That’s the hard part of it.

Q. River, tell us about your Singles Cricket event where you finished in 3rd place?

River - I was most satisfied with my performance during the PRO Singles Medley as the bull was single bull and in the x01 games, it was Double In/Out. I had to walk-over my semi-finals game due to the clash with Team Malaysia game and ended up at 3rd place in the Singles OPEN. Actually, if have I proceeded on with the Singles event, I could have been the default champion as the 2nd and 1st place was walked over too. I felt the organizer did not manage this very well.

Q. Shin, how was it like playing with Paul Lim in the team event ?

Shin - Tremendous encouragement and professionalism from him. A big WOW! We had to play 2 games separately at the same time. And even though he had to concentrate on winning his own game, he had the headache to peek at my game and continually gave encouragement to me. That’s what I meant by burdening my other teammates. Stressful for him lah! Given another chance, I will never cause this type of stress onto my teammates again. OMG!

Q. Share with us some of the most memorable games that you had with any players during the event?

River - My best game was with Johnny (Canada) and John (also Canada) during the PRO singles Medley.
Shin - My most memorable game was with Switzerland in the Team event – I started with a ton 80 for my cricket game with Kelvin, and never looked back. I only had to play 3 rounds to win that game. Ton 80 (round 1), T18-T17 (round 3), T15-DB-SB (round 5). Smiles...

There was another memorable moment during the Singles event against a Canadian player – it was 1-1 and I was leading in the third game until my tip broke badly. It was badly stuck in the shaft and I couldn’t get it out no matter how I tried for 5 mins. Then the Canadian captain (David Fatum) came over to help me and it also took him 10 mins and yet the tip was still stuck. What struck me was when the lady player was getting a bit impatient and asked him how long she had to wait, he replied : “As long as this takes, you just have to wait while remembering who you are to win the game later.” And with that (another 10 mins later), after replacing the tip and continuing the game, she went on to overtake me and check the game. Great sportsmanship from both parties.

Q. What did you do in Shanghai other than darts?

Shin - This was not my first trip to Shanghai, thus, I was not into much sightseeing. I was very focus on darts for this trip and did not stray out far from the Hotel Ramada and the tournament venue. My only sightseeing for this trip was walking to and from the Hotel and Venue….. There were lots of great food near the hotel already.
River - I stayed in the same hotel as the other players, Hotel Ramada. I didn't go anywhere else as I was there just for the tournament. I played in every event that I could participate. I also ate a lot with Paul, Harith and Kelvin as he was the only one who can read the food menu!

Enjoying sumptuous food - (left-right) Harith, Paul, Kelvin, River and Shin

Q. Share with us some of the new friends that you made during the event

River - I made friends with mostly Asian, Chinese-speaking players like Xiao-Hei from Taiwan and Deng Ying from China. They are all very good players.

Shin - Roger from Switzerland; Sdjenka, Strnnd and Gregor from Slovenia. All players with great sportsmanship.

Team Singapore with Team Switzerland

Q. Any other word of encouragement you would like to share with the others

Shin - Go into the competition with an open mind, don’t get overwhelmed or vice-versa. Singapore is not too far off the Stage!

Q. What can local players do to raise their dart standards in order to reach a higher placing in the World Cup?

Shin - Self-discipline to practice and practice. And practice using the game format. We are so used to playing bulls here, but it was split bull over there, which means do not use bulls for 01s. And double in-double out. Most of the time, qualifying events here are not played in the format that we will be competing in. I would like the qualifying events held in the same format as the competitions, however, it will be a challenge for the organizers, I guess.
River - Singapore already have many players that have good potential to become world class players, to name a few like Raymond Seah, Alan Chau, Johnny Seow, Max, Jin Kuang, Jimmy Te, Ben Tan, Darryl Lim, Tony Teo, etc.

Read the first part of this interview with Harith Lim and Paul Lim
Photos courtesy of Harith/Shin

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IDF World Cup Darts chat with Paul Lim and Harith Lim

Team Singapore recently ventured to Shanghai, China recently to participate in the IDF (International Darts Federation) Darts World Cup Shanghai on 6-9 November. This event was a premier world class darts tournament held in Shanghai and sponsored by Dartslive. It attracted participants from more than 20 countries from around the world ! Team Singapore was represented by Paul Lim, Harith Lim, Kelvin Yap and Loh Yi-Shin. We chatted with Paul Lim and Harith Lim to share their experiences in Shanghai with our readers. Tomorrow, we will post our conversations with Loh Yi-Shin and River Ang, so check back again for that.

Q. What ambitions did you initially have when travelling to Shanghai?

Paul - We were planning to win everything, of course (laughs). However, looking at the format clearly, I knew it was very hard for us to win because of the lady player. For a team to make a strong impact, it needed a strong lady player. The country that won the Team Event (Russia) had a very strong lady player and that was Anastasia (Dobromyslova). Stacy Bromberg was there to play for USA but if they had taken part in the Team event, they would have had a strong chance of winning. The key was a strong lady player, because of the game format.

Harith Lim and Paul Lim at IDF'2012, Shanghai

Q. Tell us about Team Singapore's performance in the Country Team event?

Paul - The game with the Philippines team was very close for a while and their lady player was pretty good, which played a big part.
Harith - The Philippines team was very strong. Taiwan was also very competitive.

Q. After proceeding into the Single knockout round, Team Singapore crashed out against Slovenia. What happen there?

Paul - That game was tough. I didn't play very well too, we were all really tired after the long day. The game was actually quite close for a long time.
Harith – Yes, it started off close too. Their lady player wasn't very strong but just perform at the right time and the guy who wasn’t very strong started playing very well. We lost 6-9 and ended in Joint 5th position.
Paul - We just played our darts. It wasn't as good as we wanted to play, so we were a bit disappointed there.

Team Singapore at IDF'2012, Shanghai

Q. Harith, tell us about your Singles Cricket event where you finished in 3rd place?

Harith - It was good. I took Jerry Suerto out, then Lourence Illagan, then Paul Lim in the semis. I was doing really good. I want to play like this in The World finals!
Paul - You just went through a lot of very good players! (laughs)
Harith - You have to be playing your "A" game all the way. Everybody is out there to win and everyone is capable of doing that.
Paul - Harith was “flying”, man, even in the earlier rounds, we chat and he knew he was flying. I think what happened was, after the long break, your (Harith) adrenaline came down a bit.
Harith - Yeah, I went all the way through to the Winners Pool finals and lost there. Then there was the long delay after I got into the losers bracket and waited for Royden in the losers pool finals. Subsequently, I lost to Royden Lam and finished at 3rd place.

Harith Lim (right), 3rd place, World Cup Pro (Singles) Cricket

Q. Share with us some of the most memorable games that you had with any players during the event?

Harith - They were all good games. The most memorable one was where I beat Lourence. I didn't give him a chance to come back at all.
Paul – My most memorable game was the game that I lost to Harith (laughs)! It was a good game though. Actually, most of the games that I lost were 2-1. I lost 2-1 to Harith in the winners bracket. He played really well. In the losers bracket, I lost to a Croatian guy, Maurice, who was a great player. Overall, I can’t be too disappointed.

Q. What did you do in Shanghai other than darts?

Harith - We ate a lot! We ate a lot of meat until my blood pressure went up!(laughs). Especially that Muslim Xinjiang BBQ lamb recommended by Shin. It was really very, very good

Q. Share with us some of the new friends that you made during the event

Paul - We made a lot of new friends, took a lot of pictures, mostly with the European countries like Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Italy. Altogether, players from 23 countries participated but only 18 countries took part in Team Event, the rest didn't participate in the Team Event as they only had 2 to 3 members.

Q. Are there any words of encouragement you would like to share?

Paul - I really think it’s a great thing to represent the country. Everyone had the opportunity. It was almost like playing in the Olympics. The IDF World Cup is like the Olympics. It’s the next closest thing we have for darts, because darts is not in the Olympics. This is the next biggest thing in terms of number of countries participating. Overall, the IDF event had a good representation from various countries. I think the IDF did well here.

Q. What can local players do to raise their dart standards in order to reach a higher placing in the World Cup?

Paul - Obviously you have to be very good, there’s no doubt about that. Its about how good you want to be and how much you want to represent Singapore, it’s the whole pride thing.
Harith - Paul, I think our team could do better, we should plan properly the next time round and build up a strong team.

Catch tomorrow's blog entry for the IDF tournament chat with Shin and River.
Photos courtesy of Harith

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