HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010 to all

I am wishing a Happy New Year to all darters and everyone else. Hopefully this coming year will bring in more joyous and glory to Malaysian darters in Malaysia's tourneys as well as abroad.

I came to know one small restaurant in Kampung Melayu Subang recently where i saw from the roadside that they have three / four dartsboards therein. I have yet to discover more on this but will do so when time permit. Tunggu!!!

Nothing much to update about darts lately

Been on the FB n befriended Rita and ADAM Melaka. Rita the one i saw at Pahang Open as well as Melaka Open. Also befriended Tg Hadzalli via FB. Not much of darts xtvts nowadays.
Recently got to know that there is a Darts Tourney at Summit on 19th December.....Double event where u choose ur partner and entry fee is RM50....
As for now, back to football xtvts as well as training to sharpen darts skills...hehehe
Happy darting to all darters outhere!!!

Introduced Darts To My Nephew

My elder brother Yusof came to pay us a visit yesterday together with his family. They were back from UITM Shah Alam collected his daughter's belonging to be brought home to Kuala Nerang. His son, Faiz who is studying in UMS Kota Kinabalu (on holidays) seem interested to know more about Darts and he said he would take up darts seriously if given a chance later.....I briefed him all about darts and let him tried various darts sets at home.....Informed him that Sabahan are loads of darters and they are good ones out there if he is going to explore darts back in Sabah later....If he wants to join the local darts circuit later, i will surely bring him together....Lots of things for him to improve n handle accordingly as i whacked him out at least 6 legs to nil yesterday nite...:)...........We played darts until about 2 am actually when then i xcused myself to go to bed as i needed to attend meeting tomorrow nya.....:)

Been Long Quiet Since Came Back From Melaka Open 2009

Very well..............wanted to know why i was so quiet after d Melaka Open???? :)
I got sicked immediately when reached home on Sunday.....Was having Fever as well as Diarhrea whatever it was la....sakit peruttttt!!! Bcos of food poisoning la rasanya.....Cannot performed darting at all and went down easily to Steve of Trexxers...Steve is Philippino i guessed. Damn this stupid old perut.....been suffering for at least three days and was on MC on the very Monday 16th November 2009....It was quite bad really....I did not take food for two days....Kat mana la aku pi mentekedarah kat Melaka that days......Damn it!!
Coach Tsunami FC contacted aku when i was at the Darts Venue and informed on the possibility of me reaching KL in time as they are having football match with the Juniors Tsunamis....I said i was not able to n damn i right!! I got down to the mystery illness immediately reaching home....
Now I feel much better but not to the earlier injury taken during the football match against Subadron's team......I am still recuperating but luckily no broken bones and what not...:) X Ray revealed nothing ackward at all....Alhamdulillah!!
I browsed d net and registered to ADAM Facebook.....From therein after acceptance, I got to know that Lourance took the Single Event Title of Melaka Open by beaten his compatriot, Robert Culpit. Where d heck r d Malaysian best darters ya? Aiyooooo...

Melaka Open 2009

Melaka Open............here i come with an internal injury...:) Got a damage internal tissues inside as a result of the hard hitting football by the opposition when my Tsunami FC defeated the Subadron's Team that very last Saturday's nite at Putrajaya with impressive 5-1 victory.....I put up a splendid form despite havent played football for quite sometime.

Been trained darting for some longer hours in view of the closing darts tourney for d year of 2009......whatever happen, i am happy for being able to participate n contribute for the success of darts in Malaysia......Even if Super G would scoop all d major tourneys champion also, we have to acknowledge that they r d better side....Only we have to train harder to get back even with them n win back those monies they collected in Malaysia.....Perhaps Malaysia team should compete in the Phillippine more often in order to reap victory at their soil as what Tg Hadzali did previously., The famous boxer, Pacquio if i am not mistaken had been so generous in sponsoring many darts tourneys in the Phillippine....Darts is so popular in the Phillippine n no wonder thewy can produce a lot talented stars like those in the Super G Team.....Lourance, Ronald, Robert etc....all tasted victory overseas.....We also can Brothers!!!! If not us, some of our brothers out there can!!!!! Super Malaysian in d making, hopefully!!!!!

Final Team Event Pahang Open

More photos at Pahang Open 2009

Photos Pahang Open 2009

One Thing I do Not Like To See At Darts Event

One main thing i do not like to see at most of the Darts venue is liquor consumed by the Malay / Moslem darters. Infact I do not like liquor to be consumed by all actually. It was such ashamed that Moslem darters consumed "Haram" drink whereby other alternatives can be consumed by them. It was not a good example potrayed by some of these high profile individuals. It is a degrading value actually...Hoping for a better value in the future!!

Single Event on 01.11.09 Pahang Open Darts Tourney 2009

I rushed early in the morning because its has been quite late for me that day. Immediately rushed to the Darts venue and did some practice. I was scheduled to play at no. 6 Dartsboard together with 15 other darters including Md Latip Sapup the runners up of Malaysian Open 2009. My match was chalked by Md Latip. I played against K. W. Lai of FS Darters. This lad probably from Sabah, i supposed. I took the games excellently with a very fast pace. Won 3-1 with some impressive 15-16 darts and 180 score as well. Latip congratulated me and said that i played fantastic darts. I was as usual a reserved lad...:)

I was at the Darts venue when my Blackberry rings. Coach Tsunami FC told me that they had made arrangement for the team to meet the X-Malaysian Players in the friendly football match scheduled to be played at Precint 18 Stadium, Putrajaya on the 7th Nov @ 8 pm.....Wow, what a chance to play against Subadron Aziz, Azmin Azram Abdul Aziz and so on then!! I confirmed my attendance to the Coach immediately. Those who wanted to see me in goal for Tsunami FC are welcome to watch the match at the said venue on Saturday, 7th Nov @ 8 pm.

The second round match was a bit too long to be waited. I went upstairs to the room and relaxed and have had something to eat. I was scheduled to play against this Azmi of Sayong Lembah. I saw him defeated Khairidzaman Ismail with such an ease. He was a fast darter really.
My 2nd Round match was chalked by Kumar if i was not mistaken. He took sometime to go to the loo n we had our few darts on d board. Azmi really fast although not that accurate in d finishing. I too was not that accurate in the finishing n Game went to Azmi 3-0. Chances given were not taken accordingly. Lesson learnt there!!
Coach Amin played at the 5th Board. He cruised easily on the 1st n 2nd matches. But i was not long there to watch all d matches as i need to rush back to KL after checked out at around 2.30 pm. Thus, i did not know who took the Single Title on that day. Even the ladies Single matches also took placed at around 12 noon. Ladies played well too but most of them are dominated by Sabahan, i guessed. People like Monica n Rose were also took part n they won their 1st match easily.

Pahang Open Darts Tourney 2009

I went to Kuantan on Saturday morning. Started off at around 8.30 am and cruised the Highway at an average 140 kmh......It was a smooth journey and we stopped by at Genting Sempah R n R as well as Maran or Gambang R n R if i am not mistaken....Reached Kuantan about 12.30 noon. Checked in at put up at 803 room....Soon, i went to the registration counter for single event and paid RM100 cash. Counter managed by these Sabahan which i knew like Rose (Wife of Sazali Kuda), Monica and a guy. Quite a small room to accommodate all d darters actually. Packed with crowds and team event. One thing i noted was that the dartsboards used are not the tournament standard. They should have provided the diamond ring / wired instead of the normal Harrow board for training. Thus, many darts bounced and scored not that good for the fellow darters.

I took some photos and then went off to Cherating to sight seeing. Led the kids swam in the ocean and took some more photos. What a day! Went to the small village of cherating where they have this Little Bali's place and ramai westerners there. I wud like to be there again for relaxing in the near future.

I went back to the hotel at around 7 pm.....relaxing n did normal stuff like bathing, praying and so forth. We had dinner at one of the outside restaurant..Pretty tasty too. Perhaps might b bcos of too hungry kot....:) Went back to the hotel and straight to the Darts venue. Team event still on with the final where Super G took on All4i darters from Labuan.....Eventually, Super G again took on the Team Title. They played splendid darts too. I admired this Loerence Ilagan...Thin lad of Philippines but a very good darter himself...He shot magnificent darts!!

Photos were taken on the prize giving ceremony on all d teams affected but i have yet to publish it here....:)

New Dartsboard Put Up at the 35th Floor, MBC Office

Well, finally i managed to put up Winmau Carlsberg Dartsboard at the pantry of my 35th Floor, MBC Office. This is also possible because our new Group Head, Effendy had announced that we did not have to be relocated to MSB, Damansara. But, not permanently be here as we have yet to be determined whereabout of our next move. Staff shown keen interest in darts but no initiative to purchase their own darts set yet. I have to provide few old darts sets in order to keep the lads going....:)

Bumi Sepang Single Tourney Oct 2009

I woke up quite early today....Took bath and have had breakfast...Simple one and off i went to Salak Tinggi Kosmopleks....Actually i have another assignment waiting on the late afternoon i.e. photo shooting session with PSPJ...What d heck.....have a go at Darts first.
Damn whereabout is the F212, Lorong 6, Kosmopleks tuh???? Went searching and finally found d place......pi minum jap kat corner restaurant...afterthat, went upstairs and saw quite a lot of participants...frm various clubs...

Tourney started at around 10.45 am...I was grouped with AJ Sham, Azhar, Khairul and Mahadi in Group D. Just go and baling je darts tuh....U came just to investigate and feel d place n get to know people too....First match against AJ Sham....Quite an experienced this guy,,,,he led 1-0 and i balas 1 leg too....When naik sheh la....but i lose d bout when he put up 180 and ended the shootout with 115 finishing....2nd match against Mahadi.....Also i lose 1-2 but fought gallantly too...scores are higher n not 40 n below la...3rd match against Azhar also i fought gallantly with a decent scores and impressive performance despite 1st timer there,,,,went down 1-2 also...He is d local Sepang Darter maa.....last bout was against the lad called Khairul.....This guy also quite a master with higher scores almost all d times,...cud not match him n went down 0-2....
Overall, i am satisfied with my 1st outing at Kosmopleks....Been so long didnt compete in the tourney....Also met MH (Zamy) of MDJ Darters n had a few chat with him.....
Went back almost immediately after last match in view of other obligation in photography..:) Invested puluhan ribu on camera paraphernalia lorrr!!!

New Item Bought

I purchased a new dartsboard Puma Bandit (the one used in Malaysia Open 2009) from one of the sportstores at PC - Pertama Kompleks..:) Kind of like Puma Bandit as I kinda hate Winmau Blade III used at home.....macam unstable n the ring macam one kind je lah...dunno how to describe actually....RM200 terbang for the board....:)

Actually i have another Winmau Carlsberg board at the office....just waited there to b fixed to the wall...unfortunately, d situation at d office offlate macam x nak let me proceed with the completion of dart centre there,.....heheh...Lagi pun, some of us has moved to 5th Floor of MBC...part still kat 35th FLoor.....also heard that we r supposed to b relocated to Plaza Damansara plak dah!!! Very demoralising though..

Records taken for personal darts development

I kept records for highest points chalked with three darts since a couple of years practicing at home....I only recorded the 120 n above...As for a tonner, i just ignored it...too much to record compared to the 120 n above....Highest / perfect darts 180 were normally chalked whenever i used Harrow's Eric Bristow Gold Titanium Tungsten Steeltip 26gm....The latest 180 chalked by using Trina Gulliver's Winmau 25gm i.e. 10.10.09....I kind of like this darts set bcos it was quite easy to manuevre too..........,....Itupun i hardly find time to practice daily,,,,,at times, mayb 1-2 times in a week....but, at least i practiced. Football yet to resume...perhaps Tsunamis still on Raya mood...too many lemang, dodol, kuih-muih to be munched, i guessed.....:)

I also read Darts books.....a couple of books with me since i took darts back in Newcastle Upon Tyne.....but not much like football, the game i love more..:)

A bit about big event like Msian Darts Open

I noticed that the coverage is not that much in the Media Massa when bigh tourney like Msian Open for Darts compared to other sports like football, hockey, badminton, cricket, tennis, squash and so on....Infact there is none in the newspaper in the Peninsular compared to the ones in Sabah n Sarawak.....Dunno why but i guessed it was not popular enough back here in Peninsular or no efforts done by respective parties to ensure it will be covered by the Media Massa....No bloody Media photographers in the big event like this.....Only me with the big L lenses as individual photographer...:) others just an ordinary p n s ones and those with the camcorder for personal consumption...I shud request to be the official photographer for local tourneys and so forth, i guessed...hehehe

As for the future events, i hope that MDF will do something to ensure that the events will attract Media Massa and things could be done to promote Darts in Peninsular Malaysia...MDF should work hand in hand with the Sports Ministry to agressively popularise Darts...I am sure thousands / millions of darts enthusiasts here....We could produce World Champions like those in the UK n Europe and not just jaguh kampung di rantau ini....We r World Champions already in Badminton, Squash, Cycling, Lawn Bowl etc....tak mustahil we can produce World Darts Champion too....

Just my 2 cents...

Still on Msian Open Darts Tourney 2009

Photos Msian Open 2009

Continuation of Msian Open 2009

I went to check in the Resort on 4th July (afternoon)...........Spending times at the beach, swimming, photo session n so forth...At times, went to the matchroom. That nite, team Super G (Philippinos) took on Callyn's Madhouse (KL Based Pub) in the final of Team event. Super G went on to beat the Pub's Team and became Champion of 2009. Quite a lot of money they took for been a Champion.

Single event started on the morning of 5th July. As early as 9 am, the event started with I was drawn against the Brunei's lad, Awang Madeni of MSD Hawk. Who the heck is that guy? I kept on thinking. Tried to reki2, n then knew that he is part of the hebat punya team from Brunei....Damn it man!! Mampus aku but life goes on, i have to fight this guy no matter win or lose...Nothing to lose bcos i only came here to gain xperience n holidaying actually...:)

We played at board 33 and i started very well with no 26 scores. Awang was a real pro actually. He even obtained 180 to take the 1st leg with such an ease. I cant say much on his form. I fought gallantly in the 2nd leg and despite registered a ton and 140 also , i cannot match this Brunei guy who went on again to take the match with a 32 checkout. I shook his hand and wish him good luck in the next round. Rupanya he is actually a real pro, man!!! He went up to the Quarterfinal of the single event and only been stopped there by Mohd Latif, the runners up of the Malaysian Open Single event category. I heard that Coach Amin was beaten by Mohd Latif after he successfully went top in his group matches.

During this single event, i came to know various lads from various countries as well as local lads. There Tengku Hadzali, Keshvinder Singh, The President of MDF, assistant2 nya, Kuda, Clarines, Taro Yashi of Japan and lots more.....I spent the rest of free time collected photos with my Canon EOS 5D (been an enthusiast Photographer too)...

Final was held on that nite with Clarines Joseph of Kitchen Darters took on Mohd Latif of MBSA...Earlier on, Clarines defeated Taro Yashi of Japan and Mohd Latif defeated a guy from Philippines (forgot his name lah)....Clarines came out top to become the 29th Malaysian Open Darts Single Champion........He was good,,really good...

29th Malaysian Open Darts Tourney 2009

I decided to enter the 29 Malaysian Open Darts Tourney which was held in Kota Kinabalu (July 2009)to gain more experience in Darts....Not just as a hobby but to seriously look into possibility to re-embark into darts when i decided to hang my Goalkeeper's gloves for good...hehehe :)

Afterall, its good to be back to KK for a holidays as it has been quite long since my last visit there (that is during my Audit tenor with the Bank).,...Its Karambunai Nexus Resort maa!! Expensive holidays resort...

I booked MAS tickets for the family and contacted Karambunai Resort to book the family room for two nights. I reached KK two days earlier before the tourney in order for us to be able to have a sightseing around KK and surroundings. Initially, stayed at Promenade Hotel for two nights and rented Proton Waja n off we went to various places of interest there. Also able to visit the Resort where Team event took place. There i contacted Bro Amin who played for the Dream Team n he was rested in his room prior engaging in the next match. We took a walk at the beach and then went back to the matchroom. I saw Dream Team played against SRC Sabah Team and they lose the 4some. Coach Amin took another single player of SRC and he too went down to the lad of Sabah. Might be his unlucky day bcos i saw that he was not able to even get a decent scores during the match. What i knew was that Dream Team went down to the SRC Sabah. Later, i went back to KK for another round of window shopping with family.

The other two left handers darters yng aku kagumi

Mark Webster (12 Aug 1983) and James Wade (6 Apr 1983) are the other left handed players (aku left handed maa!!) yang bagus di arena Darts di UK sana......

Mark Webster (Webby) is actually not a full time professional player as his main career being a Plumber. He is sponsored by Winmau Dartboard company.

He won World Championship in 2008. He also won Wold Cup Single in 2007.

James Wade (The Machine) is an English Professional darts player. He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title at the World Matchplay in July 2007. He has since won the 2007 World Grand Prix and the 2008 UK Open.

He achieved three nine darts finishes during 2006 calendar year (a record)....2006 PDC Young Player of the Year and 2007 PDC Player of the Year. Current ranking of no. 2 in the world after The Power and before Barney (3).

Some Facts about Raymond Van Barneveld (Barney)

Barney (the Belanda man) was born on 20 April 1967,,,,,,sama tahun dgn aku lahir beb!!...

5 times World Darts Champion, 2 times UK Open Champion and Las Vegas Desert Classic Champion.

Barney uses 25gm Unicorn Barney Prototypes.......See my man.....Berat2 jugak darts set yang digunakan oleh para champion kita nih!!!..:)

Barney also had threw televised nine dart finish in 2009 PDC World Darts Championship in the 1/4 final match against his fellow countreyman, Klaasen on 02 Jan 2009. Barney threw his 4th nine darts finish in the Blue Square UK Open West Midlands REgional on 29 Mar 2009 in the 3rd round against Kirk Shepherd (the new rising star nih!!)

Some Facts about Phil "The Power" Taylor

Philip Douglas Taylor is an English Darter...Born on 13 August 1960. Generally considered as the greatest darts player ever. Won over 14 world championships and over 75 other major tourneys.
He made ceramic toilet roll handles earning no more than 52 pounds a week at a time. Sir Eric Bristow decided to sponsor Phil to the tune of 10,000 pounds on the condition that it had to be repaid. The investment paid off....:)

Taylor also led the creation of a new organization i.e. World Darts Council which later became the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in 1993.

Taylor hold numerous records for high scoring in darts, his three darts average per match records are higher than anyone else in the history of darts. He has also achieved more televised nine-dart finishes than anyone and the most overall in major events.

Taylor has 4 kids - Lisa, Chris, Kelly and Natalie - with wife Yvonne. He supports his home town football club Port Vale.

What is important to note here is Taylor uses 26gm Unicorn the Power Phase 5......Berat beb!! Sama berat Darts Set yang aku dok guna.........This year shown that Taylor uses the slick type of darts set....I also got the slick type of darts set but a torpedo type lerr.....easy to manuevre beb!

Darts in 2009

CIMB Team did not enter the MIBA 2009 in view of the protest against AMBANK which claimed to feature non staff in the last tourney. They won overall Title in view of that. Tarak aci lorr!!!!!

We went on to enter NBSC Darts Tourney. After short selection, we took another new player i.e. Imran and played two friendly matches i.e. HSBC n Petronas......As usual, i did not want to be label as 26 players like what some of the players claimed to be because it will bring down your moral.....U have to set a high standard n confident!! At least to me....Afterall, i have played so many-many years b4 n not like some of them b4....They even 4got abt it....

We played HSBC at B Sentral......We beat them despite a tough challenge. I won my bout in the last single match against Firdaus with gallant victory....It show the POWER!!

Later on the other night, we went to play against Petronas Team at Amin Alley, Ampang Cahaya. I checked for the foursome event. But we lose all the other bouts. Despite registered 180 in the last single match, i was not able to match Brother Petronas....I have d chance but it was not my night. Takdir kekalahan pada malam itu.

NBSC Tourney 2009 was held at K Klub Tmn Melawati. Single Tourney started on the Friday n those 4 semifinalists last year were given a Bye by the organiser including myself....:) Relax Beb!!! Relax punya relax, when the turned came, I lose against Khairil of HSBC in the 2nd round (tp x pe bcos Khairil turned out to be the Single event Winner rupanya)....bahana dpt bye gitu le nampaknya...This year 'Ane" Jega berjaya sampai ke semifinal n obtained 4th place....We supported him all d way.....But to CIMB, aku masih memegang rekod 3rd in the single event so far!!! hehehe...................Sebelah malamnya menyaksikan perlawanan team bermula....We started against HSBC but lose d blouts....2moronya, we played against few more opponents....I was put as 1st single plak dah.....b4nya, ada 1-2 players were gah diangkat tinggi sangat oleh coach sampai budak2 baru yng nak join the team masa selection pun menyampah tengok...This is what i obtained from them actually. :) I gave my best for the team and the last match against RHB was about the best because I helped the team in the 4some, won against Mathew in the 1st single and d decider has to be determined by rematch of 4some. Again i led the team successfully...I checked for the team and CIMB went on to take 3rd spot in the NBSC Darts 2009....The best place so far since joining the tourney back in 2007....Tourney ended and some players took photos n i did not bring my Canon EOS 5D to capture the moment of glory on that nite...Din took lots of photos with his P n S Canon Ixus camera....But till today, all of us have yet to get to see the photos.

Photo our Coach Amin Abdul Ghani

Photos Champion!!

More cerita............Darts

Team CIMB went on to enter the NBSC Tourney in 2008 which was held at K Klub Tmn Melawati. Again I was selected to represent CIMB after selection was conducted at Semantan’s pantry. We were again coached by Encik Amin Abdul Ghani. Jaguh2 Pantry Semantan were also selected bcos they played mostly everyday there when they did not have driving assignments out there. Jega, Din, Senu, Zali and the newcomer Sam had a practice there and they became quite good darters by then. I was practicing most of the times at home bcos I have 4 dartsboards i.e. Nodor Intersports, Winmau Blade III and Calsberg Winmau (2). In addition, I have hectic schedules at the office and my office is not that near to Jln Semantan. We had few friendly matches where we won against HSBC (2X) at the B Sentral and lose against CB Darters.
NBSC single event took place a day earlier at K Klub. I went on to beat opposition started with the Maybank player who had beaten me in 2007 at the quarterfinal. I went on to beat few more players until the semi-final where I supposed interruption from the team members had bothered my concentration against Mathi @ Mathew of RHB and I lose 0-2. But I had a quick recovery to beat Faizal 2-0 of AMBANK to capture 3rd place in the single event. I was so delighted to manage a few steps ahead of the rest and improve my performance since 2007. CIMB however only managed to get 5th place in the team event when we somehow lose POWER!!...Disaster when we ate too much during the lunch break…
About two week after, we entered MIBA Tourney which was also held at K Klub. The same team went on to compete against other Investment Banks. We had a tough challenge in the 1st match where we hold on to beat them 2-1. We then beat MIDF Team that seems to be quite tough too. I went to beat their single player 2-0. No chance given to him. In the final, CIMB faced Maybank and I went on to beat the single player 2-1. The rest was depending on the double team of Jega n Din to pounce Maybank. After relentless darts throws to check at double 9, Din finally able to finish off the set. CIMB Group was MIBA Champion for 2008. Everyone was joyous with the achievement. After the tournaments, Team went to play few friendly matches outside like Securities Comm and DBKL and we won the bouts.

Photos CIMB Darters

More on Darts

The revival of Zaidi’s darts came into the picture when CIMB announced the selection of darts players back in 2007. He was thinking at that time that it is good to try and attended the selection as darts did not require so much physical energy compared to the football activities that he had undergone with the Tsunami FC. Lots of strenuous exercises as well as the pain endured when injured.
The selection was held at CIMB Semantan (pantry) and it was there that he met Encik Amin Abdul Ghani , the Malaysian Player / Asia Pacific Champion 2006 who was entrusted to coach the CIMB Darters to enter the NBSC as well as MIBA Tourneys on that year. The very first time the Bank entered the darts tourney. Majority of the staff attended did not even played darts before. Just a few to name yang pernah main darts like En. Ramli Abu, Bro. Othman Md Dom, Jega and myself….Tu pun dah sekian lama menyepikan diri dari permainan darts ini…hehe..:)….Selection went on for three days and later the coach announced the listed players…I was included as well…Thank God. Coach gave valuable advice and tips on how to becoming a better darter.
We went on to compete in the NBSC Tourney which was held at 1 Club. We managed to get 4th place in the team event despite been new to the darts arena of NBSC…and I went on to qualify to the quarterfinal of the single event despite without a moral support and encouragement from the whole team. Nobody in the team expected me to go as far as that but I seem to know it because I had experience from the land of Darts / Crafty Cockney’s homeland i.e. The Great Britain. In the MIBA Darts Tourney, we had managed to obtain 3rd place. Again, Maybank dominated the darts arena.

During the same time, I had represented Zone 10 in the Shah Alam Veteran Futsal Tourney organised by MBSA and we went on to win the category with RM1,500 prize money.

More on Darts / Football

When Zaidi joined Group Internal Audit of BBMB back in 1993, football was his passion. He played football a lot. Internal Audit Team was the best team as they comprised of young football stars plus the veteran players and we played a lot of friendly matches as well entered local tourneys. One of the memorable tourney was the Chairman's Cup back in 1993 where Audit combined with Credit Control Office. We played against the KL Branch which comprised of the Bank's footballers at the PULAPOL pitch. These bunch of players of us just took it easy and had a laugh before the match while those of KL Branch, trained n warm up b4 the match. In the match, they had a series of attacks at our goal but could not beat the goalie (of course la me) or the tiang gol. Our team just had a lone strike at their goal and it produced the only goal during the first half (goal scored by Bro Joe Ghazali). KL Branch even had a penalty kick taken but then could not scored. They were mad and furious during the interval. Audit players rested and smoked and laugh at each others.

2nd half was even more lively with series of another attacks been taken by KL Br players. Zaidi stood firm and foiled them. Just for the unlucky strike by the opponent striker only where defender Zainal Abidin could not blocked and it went underneath him and was not able to be seen by Zaidi d Goalkeeper. The ball went in. 1-1 the scoresheet until the end of the match. A lot of praises went to the Goalie....He went on to display courages agility until we were beaten 1-0 in the quarterfinal by the Mgmt Team (Office Boys Team maa) at the TPCA ground...Again he went on to save another penalty kick taken by the Mgmt Team.

When in the GIA, we had a series of annual sports where we introduced Darts. My team won the event several times and i kept all those medal as a momento from the past. Football was still my passion where i went on to play for Prudential Assurance in the 3rd Division of KL League. I also went to play in the friendly matches for Kg Bharu Branch, Kelana Jaya Branch, Muadzam shah Branch as well as played for Kerteh br at Petronas Stadium during night match against one of the branches there. What a memorable times!!

Continuation from the intro

Zaidi went back to Malaysia in 1990. Served AMFB in Jln Dato Lau Pak Khuan, Ipoh Gdn and entered AFCM Perak Darts Tourney in 1991 partnered Raja Annuar Jonaidi (Dato' Raja Ahmad Zainuddin's nephew) who never played darts b4. Zaidi swept all opponents in the preliminary rounds until the team reached final. Mayban was the opponent but they changed tactic and hosted the final n also the match system. Double in double out. Mangkuk hayun Mayban. AMFB tak menjadi and only managed 1st runner-up. OK for the start though. At the same time, Zaidi went on to play football for AMFB in the same tourney and AMFB became AFCM Perak Champion for the 1st time defeated Mayban Finance 2-0 in the final. :)

Afterthat, all football for Zaidi n he never looked back on Darts.

Photos while playing darts in the Lovaine Hall 1988

Rocker Zaidi tengah throwing darts...:)

Intro on owner of Zaidi-za1darter..:)

Zaidi came to play darts when he was in the United Kingdom (to be precise in Newcastle Upon Tyne) back in 1988. He played football so much at that time where he represented the Malaysian students for Newcastle as well as joined the league in the University and the Polytechnic leagues under two different football team i.e. The Overseas Society (mosly Arab students) and the B.A. Sports Studies.....Never came accross in his heart that he wanted to pursue darts so much at that time because he felt that it was just a stupid game played by the British...hehehe :)...but he did buy one cheap dartsboard and threw so much darts until the surface of the dartsboard became abbrasive n tertanggal materialnya ke lantai where cleaner have to clear it at the Lovaine Hall of Residence almost everyday...:)

He went on to buy a competition Nodor Inter Sport Bristle Dartsboard n then baru le ada kick main darts.....skills picked up from there n from those darts games / match played in the TV by local heroes like Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, John Lowe, Bobby Anderson, Jocky Wilson, Paul Lim etc....Eric Bristow was his favourite players (The Crafty Cockney)...and through Bristow la, Phil "The Power" Taylor was introduced to the competition darts....Bristow sort of sponsored (of course to be repaid) Taylor of 10,000 pound to be used in the local competition entered..Taylor went on to become a legend in darts just like Bristow but only unable to obtain "Sir" from Queen of England like Bristow did....