Two young Taiwanese darts players on Friday bagged gold at this year’s World Darts Federation (WDF) World Cup in Seoul, which ran from Monday to yesterday.
Taiwan’s Tsai Yung-en and Yang Yi-ching clinched the Girls’ Best Champions title, defeating under-18 rivals from countries including Finland, Mongolia and Turkey.
The pair went undefeated from their opening match on Tuesday, sweeping aside every opponent before sealing the title on Friday.
Photo: CNA
In the final, they became the first team to win four legs in a Darts 501 contest played on traditional bristle dartboards.
In the 501 format, players start with 501 points and aim to reduce the score to exactly zero, throwing three darts per turn.
Team manager Chen Chien-lin said that Taiwanese players are less accustomed to bristle dartboards than many of their international counterparts, making Tsai and Yang’s victory all the more meaningful.
Chen also said that this year is Taiwan’s debut at the WDF World Cup, an international competition held every two years since 1977.
Given that context, he said Tsai and Yang’s performance on the global stage was “extremely solid.”
Chinese Taipei Darts Federation chairman Tony Kuo praised the pair, saying their victory demonstrated that Taiwan was beginning to reap the rewards of two decades of effort to grow the sport.
“They are both so young and have bright futures ahead of them,” Kuo said of Tsai and Yang.
Taiwan’s success was not limited to the under-18 girls’ event.
On Wednesday, Tseng Chi-jui secured a place on the podium in the men’s Open Singles, defeating Finland’s Jonas Masalin 5-2 to guarantee at least a bronze medal.
Tseng was to compete in the semi-finals after press time last night, with a chance to advance to the final and contend for gold on the same day.
For its inaugural appearance at the WDF World Cup, Taiwan fielded a delegation of 12 athletes — eight adults and four under-18 players — alongside four staff members.
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