KHOBAR -Afico Striker-2 finally ended its title drought by bagging the coveted championship with a masterful win against surprise finalist JAL Int'l. Arrows on the concluding of the Hempel Dart Cup ‘08 here. Afico Striker-2 of Gary Terso, Chris Calalo, Ronald Galvan, Nonoy Coraza and Gary Tolentino dominated the JAL Arrows from start to finish for a resounding 9-3 victory. In spite of its leader Terso's untimely off night, who finished with a mere 1-2 slate, his teammates played extremely well with Calalo and Galvan lead-off on a similar 3-0 followed by Tolentino's 2-1 to complete the rout against the stunned Arrows. It was Afico's first title in more that three years since EPDA's rebirth in 2005. For JAL Arrows, being the neophyte in the league and ended up with the second best wasn't bad at all considering its performance. It remains a threat other teams with the likes of Jerry Roldan, Flasci Guevara, Greg Perias and Darlo Landingin. Afico's other team, No.2 seed Stiker-4 settled for third place as it succumbed to the intensity and balanced attack of JAL Arrows in the semifinal, losing 5-9. Only Willy de Vera delivered for Striker-4 with his 3-1 slate. For JAL Arrows Roldan and Perias finished on identical 3-1 slates supported by Guevara and Landingin with 2-1 and 1-2 respectively. Hempel's Dart Vaders-2 settled for fourth place which earlier outlasted its sister team Dart Vaders-1 with a 9-7 score. But it suffered a heartbreaking loss to JAL Arrows in the next ladder, via decision game 8-9. In that game, Dart Vaders-2 built a commanding 7-3 lead after tenth match and only needed two more wins out of the remaining six matches to advance to the semifinals. However it managed only one win, courtesy of Pong de Dios over Guevara on the 15th match and lost five including the sorry loss in the final match of Vaders top player Garry Medina against Landingin in what could have been the icing of the cake. The game went to a decision team match play after that loss, but then again Dart Vaders many chances of winning slipped away as it couldn't finish the game with all the opportunities. Meanwhile the battle of tournament MVP was won by top darter Bernie Arciga of Al-Mana Los Darteros beating Allen Rosales of Afico Striker-1 via 4-2 final score in a best of seven 501 finale. It was Arciga's second consecutive MVP in a team tournament this year for the reigning No.1 darter in the Eastern Region. Prior to their match-up Rosales outlasted his buddy Terso 2-1 in the quarterfinal, who earlier toppled Jomel Laynesa 2-1, then blanked Jerry Roldan 3-0 in the semis while Arciga blanked all his remaining opponents on the other bracket that started with Agaton Espiritu of Dart Vaders-1 (2-0), Chris Calalo of Afico Striker-2 (2-0) and Frank Casoco of Afico Striker-4 (3-0). The victory ceremony followed after the games and all winners from champion down to the fourth runner-up took home valuable prizes, gift items, trophies and medals. Certificate of Appreciation was given to Hempel Paints through Arch. Noel Marte Dizon of AFM Consultants in the absence of its Deputy Area Sales Manager Farid Mohammed Al-Duhaim who earlier sent a message of congratulations due to his busy schedule. Al-Issa Souk's venue supervisor Rod Fajardo graced the short program. Eastern Province Darters Association (EPDA) thanked all participants. It is also set for the next AFICO-sponsored Three Division Singles Tournament. __
