View From The Oche

A shortened version this week as I have been busy preparing for the arrival of four English School Inspectors!!!!!!  We have some match reports from Div 1 and 2 ,a round up of Divison stats, some news and a Captain’s Report left over from last week. No Who are Ya? this week.

Division 1

Mabuhay v Buhay Na Buhay

So these two Filipino teams met for the first time in the league this season and it ended up a rather one sided affair to say the least with the Champs getting a 11-1 win. I would have predicted a slightly closer outcome in all honesty but I guess with National pride at stake ,Mabuhay were taking no chances. Buhay Na Buhay started so well too ,taking the first triples but after that it all went downhill fast, though two of the Doubles and four of the Singles went to 2-1 and judging by the amount of tons the losers scored they actually played some pretty good darts but couldn’t or didn’t get the chance to check. For Buhay ,Sam lead the way in tons with four, with six of his team mates also getting on the tons board. Dan and Roden managed to get two checks each. For Mabuhay Jun and Adrian got six tons each but were beaten by one by Jonel with seven.  In checks  Jonel also led the way with four.

Stats

Familiar faces lead the tons race in Division One ,with Jonel [ Mabuhay] in the lead at the moment with 42 , closely followed by team mate Jun on 38.In checks, things are a little closer with Adrian [Mabuhay] , Xu [ Team Viet] and Big pete [ Those Guys] topping the table with 21 checks and Jonel and Jun both from Mabuhay, one behind them. Dung from Team Viet has the highest checkout so far with 134.

Division 2

Dirty Harrys v Phatty Phukkers

Well Gypsy Pat had this down for a certain home banker, so we should have known that was never going to happen. What actually occurred was a tense night of darts, where the Phukkers just edged it. The game score of 7-5 and 13 legs a piece says it all really. The Phukkers  were notorious over the last two seasons for never getting a triples match but so far this season have won 10 out of 12  and two wins tonight and managing to get at least one doubles win ,which have been rarer than a loving email sent between Chairman Lee and the female owner of Charm bar, saw the Phukkers lead 3-2 going into the Singles. The Dirty’s Dan must have wondering what he had done to upset the darting gods as after a extremely frustrating doubles loss with Luke ,he fell 2-1 to the returning Ben . How he managed to lose the match we will never know but Ben was certainly happy with his win. Phukkers took the next Singles and looked poised for their first win since the opening night. However The  Dirty’s fought back admirably to take the next three Singles and level up the match 5-5. A tense last Singles went the way of the Phukkers ,with a 2-1 win for Jimish over David. Thuy who had fallen all too easily to Luke in the Singles ,had the last laugh of the night getting the team game check and ensuring the Phukkers moved out of the bottom two for the first time in weeks.For the Phukkers Jamie topped the tons charts with five and Jimish the checking with four. For The Dirty’s, David and Simon got three tons each and Ryan was top checker with four Harry Casuals made a good impression on me and the long walk up the stairs is definitely worthwhile.

Black Magic v Madhouse

Well Black Magic woes continue and I am sure Rob1 is on the phone daily to Tin Tin, who is on his Nordic pilgrimage trying to find out when he is returning. It was a very different game for BM this week. After two weeks when all was doom and gloom early on for them they actually looked poised to take out Madhouse early on and held an impressive 5-1 lead after The Monk claimed victory over Luke in the first Singles.However Madhouse then went on to take control and win the rest of the Singles and the crucial team game –it just wasn’t Black Magic’s night. Not even their Captain could get that vital Singles win falling 2-1 to Keith. Given BM’s team game record this season it would have taken a miracle for them to claim the game and snatch a draw and it was Zach who put the nail firmly in the coffin. The defeat took Madhouse into a very comfortable position in third and not far behind the leading two. For Black Magic they sank into the bottom two and their lowest position of the season. For Madhouse, Zach was the outstanding performer with six tons and three checks. For Black Magic, Rob1 and The Monk shared the tons top position with three each and The Monk who could have done no more got four checks.

Baan Thai v The Nomads

Baan Thai would have feared the worst against one of the strongest teams in the league and especially so as it seems they were missing their top performer Rey and having to field two new players. The game went to form with a 10 -2 victory for the team from Chilli. In all honesty it was all over too quickly, with only a doubles and team game victory the positives for Baan Thai. Trang’s victory in the third Singles clinched the victory for Nomads and all the team had solid nights. They will look forward to the second half now they top the table ,especially as they have reinforced their small squad with the arrival Brett from the now defunct Buccaneers. Baan Thai though find themselves three points adrift at the bottom of the table after the Phukkers victory. For Baan Thai one of their new players had quite a good debut ,with three tons and a couple of checks and Jeff also got three tons.For Nomads not as many tons as usual with the likely lads of Chad,Jeff and Glyn getting three each and Glyn got five checks.

Stats

Zach from Madhouse has a bit of a lead in tons raced ,on 29 and 5 ahead of his nearest challengers, Chad [Nomads] and Rey [Baan Thai]. The Nomads dominate the checks with Glyn and Chad sharing top place with 20 ,closely followed by team mate Jeff and Dan from Dirty Harrys on 18.

Division 3

Stats

Comfortably in the lead regarding tons is Jeorge from Lindo Patriots with 31 ,his nearest challenger being Oanh from ACDC ,with 24. Donald from The Prixx narrowly leads the checks chart with 20 ,only one ahead of a clutch of players on 19 ,Oanh again ,Scotty from Buddha and his team mate Warren. The highest finsih is 105 ,currently held by Warren from The Prixx.

Division 4

Stats

Brendan from Tavern ,with 13, heads the tons charts, with Thanh Tiger [Bernies] and Karl [Tavern] on 12. The checks table is very close with five players sharing the lead on 13 checks they are Leo [G-Force] , Kalvin [Bernies], Cathal [Udder], Thanh Tiger [Bernies] and Michael [G-Force].THe highest checkout on this Divison belongs to Henry [G-Force] with 96 and indeed he doesn’t have any competion yet in this area -come Division 4 get them high checkouts second half.

Captains Report

Division 1

REALLY ROTTENS -ALEX

Hi Jimish,

Sorry for late respond, below with our team report as per your request, thanks for all your effort on weekly darts blog, cheers…

The season has started out fairly well for Really Rottens. Having played only 2 home games and 4 away games – we (dare i say) are looking to be vaguely in control of our destiny.

After the inevitable away loss to Mabuhay Allstars, we re-grouped, grew a pair and went on to beat Ice Blue in Ice Blue – something we have not done for a long time. Buoyed by this, we have had great team camaradery, and managed to pull off some close, but extremely satisfying performances on the night. Star players: It has got to be said that our best improved player would also be our star player. Mr Hung, who has shown up for every sporadic practice, won a singles game, has improved with leaps and bounds. Tom has been a lot more consistent with his checking, and as always Guppy – who has faced some tough opponents, has been there come hell or high water. 2nd Half Rottens prediction: More of the same! We are hoping to have a few Rottens back into action that have been absent. Hopefully Matt too, who might make it back to Vietnam for the last few games of the season. We also signed some new members in the transfer market at the beginning of the season, who are proving to be great value.

News and Gossip

Well this week we saw the demise of another team from The Sidl ,with Brett calling time on the short lived life of The Buccaneers. Getting enough players [even all the Sheridans old players] on a Tuesday night was proving too much. I had a quick look on the website and it seems players who are registered for his team are actually playing for another team -so he was struggling early on. He himself is going to join up with The Nomads ,strenghtening an already well performing team in Division Two. Others from the team are joining Ice Blue ,who will be grateful for the extras after having an uncertain future themselves due to player numbers. Rick informs me that Mario,Phuong and Matt are joining the ranks of Ice Blue -whether they will be allowed to field them in the cup semis this week is uncertain.

So we are back down to 26 teams and maybe we don’t have the numbers to support four divisions -a few other teams are often fielding New Players on a weekly basis. The committee will no doubt need to look at this before seasons end as it may have a bearing on Promotion and Relegation like last season.

Cup Semis

Well after a bit of argy bargy over where they will be played ,we see the long awaited Cup Semis on Tuesday night. If Ice Blue can field their new players I am going for a Ice Blue win over Team Viet and in the other match it is hard to look beyond a comfortable win for Mabuhay over Those Guys.So I have slightly different opinions on the results to our resisdent predictor Gypsy Pat below!

Gypsy Pat’s Predictions

Well last week Gypsy Pat had a mixed bag once again in regard to his fortune telling.He got none of scores exactly right [including the Phukkers thankfully] and picked up only two correct results.

Pat’s Predictions last week and actually result in brackets.

Div 1   Mabuhay 8  v   Buhay Na Buhay 4   [ 11-1]

Div 2  Dirty harrys 9  v Phattys Phukkers 3  [ 5-7]

Div 3  NSW 7   v Charmed Assassins 5  [5-7]

Div 4 Boston 1   v G-Force 11 [3-9]

Here are his predictions for the cup semis on Tuesday

Team Viet v Ice Blue

TV sit 3rd in the division whilst IB are 5th, looking at the stats, you could predict am easy win for TV, as when these two met in the league TV came out 8-4 winners, however, with a place in the final at stake, i’m sure IB will step up, I think its going to be a tight game, but I think TV will edge the win: Team Viet 7-5 Ice Blue.

Mabuhay v Those guys

Mabuhay sit atop D1 unbeaten, Those Guys have yet to find a win, you would think its going to be a stroll in the park for Mabuhay, but when they met in the league, Mabuhay scraped home 7-5, again this is going to be a tight game, again I think Mabuhay will scrape home: Mabuhay 7-5 Those guys.

Footnote

Good luck to all teams tonight, my predictions should be renamed GypsyPats Pathetic Predictions, have fun guys, good arrows

View from the Oche

In this week’s bumper edition of the View from the Oche we have the usual match reports and results, also Gypsy Pat’s predictions which on last week’s evidence are becoming a tad more accurate, though I wouldn’t be asking him for my lottery numbers just yet!  Who are Ya? returns after a break where we get an insight into the world of Melvin ,Captain of those jolly chaps, The Prixx. We hear from various Captains from around the Divisions as to just how it is all going at the half way stage and finally we catch up on a bit of gossip and news from around Saigon darts – phew that took a while!

Match Reports

Division 1

Buhay Na Buhay v Ice Blue

Buhay Na Buhay continued their pretty good form this season, beating Ice Blue 8-4 last Tuesday night. Ice Blue managed to get six players together with the Ice Cream Baron of Munei making his transient appearance once again. What stands out from the match stats from this game is that all team members from both teams made a contribution throughout the night. It was a pretty even match going into the Singles, with a narrow 3-2 lead to the Filipinos. However  they proved dominant in the Singles ,taking 5 out of the six and only Negi disrupting their progress. Having said that there were a lot of 2-1 matches and Ice Blue could rightly say ‘ if only’. On a night when all players got checks the top performers for Buhay were Sam and Lito with three each and in regard to tons ,three players got four each – Sam ,Lito and Roland. For Ice Blue , Rick and Negi got themselves three tons each and Negi was the top checker with four.

Really Rottens v Those Guys

Those Guys are still searching for that winning feeling after falling to a 8-4 loss against the Rottens. The win for the Rottens consolidates their second position behind the runaway leaders Mabuhay ,who had a week off on Tuesday night. Another match where it was finely poised after the triples and doubles and a 3-2 advantage was held by the Rottens. The Rottens  ran away with 5 Singles wins ,only Big Pete managing to get the maximum reward from the one on one format for Ice Blue. Roch from the Rottens helped himself to an impressive six tons ,while three of his team mates ,in Alex,Tom and Guppy got four each.  Tom continued his strong season by claiming four checks and the Englishman will be fairly happy with his season so far. For Those Guys, Big Pete and Odi caused most of the damage in relation to checks and tons.

Team Viet v The Buccaneers

Two reasonably large squads of players met last Tuesday at Ice Blue ,where Team Viet got back to winning ways and claimed an 8-4 victory over The Buccaneers. Team Viet  put in a very strong performance ,with three players helping themselves to high finishes [ Hai 99, Thuy 91 and Xu 80]. The match itself looked all over after the second Singles ,when Team Viet held a 6-1 lead , but wins for Mario and Brett put a little doubt in the minds of TV. Alas it was not to be and The Buccaneers  ,despite a first Singles victory of the season for Phuong did not have enough and fell to defeat. Xu topped the tons for TV with three and Hai got most checks with four. Mario was back on the tons trail for The Buccanneers ,with six and Brett got three checks.

Division 2

Madhouse v Baan Thai

Madhouse could be a bit of a dark horse I reckon when it comes to who finishes top at the end of the season. When they can get their full squad out ,they are a dangerous team and they notched another victory over Baan Thai ,who remain at the bottom and whose sets and legs differential got worse, which could be crucial in their relegation battle with the Phukkers and anybody else who gets dragged down there.Madhouse are unbeaten since their opening week defeat and this match was won fairly comfortably. We even saw a win in the Singles for that doubles specialist Stephen Guess!!! So to the match – Madhouse led 4-1 going into the Singles and though Rey’s win over the formidable Zach gave Baan Thai some hope ,Madhouse notched 4 wins out of the next 5 games. A final result of 8 -4 saw Madhouse move into the top three. Zach managed five tons for Madhouse despite his Singles loss and three players in Sam ,Carl and Markus got themselves three checks each. For Baan Thai, their tons scoring was quite good and indeed Rey did not finish top dog for a change, only getting two ,in fact four players got three each – Fei,Pol ,Ar Ar and Gabby.Ar Ar was the top checker with three and Rey can console himself with a high finish of 87.

Alayah v Dirty Harrys

Alayah stayed top of the league with a comfortable win over Dirty Harrys and will be hoping they stay there on completion of the first half of the season next week ,though it wil be out of their hands as they have a bye. The Harry’s sitting in mid table will hope to consolidate that next week against the struggling Phukkkers ,though a defeat there could drag them into the relegation battle. Devo got his team off to a good start with the first triples but after that Alayah took firm control of the match taking the next triples and all the doubles. In the Singles Dan and Devo gave The Harry’s some hope but four good victories in the other matches had the match sewn up before the team game. Stubbsy despite losing his Singles topped the tons charts for the home team with four tons, while Paul continued his fine season with five checks. For The Harry’s ,Devo and David shared top spot with five tons each and in checking Devo and Dan shared the honours with three each.

Nomads v Black Magic

Black Magic are stuttuering a little at the moment and defintely missing Tin Tin’s calming [?] presence. Nomads have, with this 9-3 victory ,given themselves the chance to be top dogs at the half way point. Black Magic like last week found themselves staring into the abyss -this time being 7 -0 down , but that fighting spirit saw them claim three of the last four Singles and gave the scoreline some respectability. Nomads are dominating the top of the Individual stats table and while Chad fell to a surprising loss against the rapidly improving White Barry White ,the others continued to show fine form. Glyn and Jeff kept their unbeaten records and Logan continues to impress. One thing that will please Rob 1 is that his team managed to reach double figures on the amount of tons scored !!! Well done guys -see Rob I give praise when it is needed! Drama and Rob 1 helped themselves to three [yes three! ] each, while White Barry White topped his team’s checking with three. Even more pleasing for the losing Captain was his high finish of 90 . I am sure he was equally estatic for his teammate Moore or Less who also got a high finish of 85. For Nomads Chad returned to his position of top tons scorer with four and shared the top checking figures with Glyn on four.

Rob 1 had a hard task this week calculating how many tons his team scored this week such was their success.

Division 3

Featured Match

Buddha Bar v No Star Where

So are No Star Where making a second half run for the title- well it seems so, as they won an extremely tight match against the luckless Buddha’s,who fell to their third successive 7-5 loss. One just feels it is not going to be Scotty’s season ,as his team lost the last Singles and team game to condem them to defeat yet again ,this time with a one leg difference. The two teams were evenly matched throughout ,after NSW had claimed both the triples and in the end it was a check by the that genial Irishman Stevie K that settled matters. Tun by name and ton by nature ,he had a good night hitting the triple 20 and helped himself to seven for Buddha.Scotty and John topping the checking for the team with three each. For NSW Fudgie was the main tormentor of Buddha ,with four tons and four checks.

Other games

Charmed Assassins had much harder game than they probably expected against the Spear Chuckers ,who put up a brave performance. The Chuckers raced into a 5-1 lead and Gypsy Pat must have been creaming it. However they ran out of steam and Charmed Assassins claimed 5 out of the 6 Singles to recover and take the points.[Think they all owe Andrew a beer too!].In the final match we saw hostilities resume between old foes The Prixx and ACDC. It resulted in yet another 7-5 ,this time to The Prixx, who keep their charge for the title ongoing .After going 4-0 down the girls surged into a 5-4 lead ,just to lose it at the death.

Division 4

Featured match

Bernies Best v Dreamtime

Dreamtime seemed to have more of a settled team as they began their life away from Game On ,but unfortunately the result was much the same as before as they fell to a heavy defeat [ 10-2 ] against the long established Bernies. All they had to show for the night was a win for Dan and their new player as Bernies ran riot. I am sure Tom and his mob enjoyed it non the less.Dan looks a good player for Dreamtime and claimed three tons to go with his two checks, when he beat the useful Xuan. For Bernies it was an great team effort but Thanh Tiger had one of his better nights with three tons and five checks. He was ably supported by Mike and Kalvin who got 4 checks each. The defeat leaves Dreamtime rock bottom and Bernies comfortably in mid table.

Other game

Udder Team continued their useful season with a 7 -5 win over the Tavern,leaving them siting pretty at the top of the league in their first season -Andy will be happy man.

Captains Reports

As we approach the half way point of the season I emailed all the Captains [ or Vice Captains] in some cases, to ask them to give their verdicts on how their teams have done so far . Thanks to those eight who chose to repsond – if anybody still wants to give a report feel free and I will put it in next week – Mr Brett, Mr Scotty ,Mr Alex!!!!!

Division 1

BUHAY NA BUHAY -SAM

Sam BnB Captain

Buhay na Buhay means surviving by all means. Our darters always plays by all means to be the best..simply happy whether win or loose. The Keypoint is unity and darting with joy! BnB delivers this message and express this among darters in the team and all others within the SIDL. 

From the starting Division below BnB made it to the upper Division. Yes! Buhay na Buhay go for it..make everybody happy!

BnB was formed by Gerry Fanoga Jr Since 2011… Who was also one of Filipino pioneer in forming Mabuhay Team that was started in Hanoi then.

Our Big salute to Gerry for his great contribution to Darts in Saigon…

Division 2

ALAYAH – LEE

Well for most of us in Alayah it was the first time ever playing in Division 2… We planned to start with a bang and with a full strength squad. We had 12 players on the books and for the first match we had everyone available and it was a hell of a job to ensure everyone played at least 1 game, the match played at Voodoo against Black Magic was a fun evening and a good away win 9-3. We were brought down to earth the following game at home to Madhouse although picking up a point in a 6-6 draw. Our visit to Baan Thai resulted with another full team and a fine away win 9-3, thus putting us on top of Division 2. Our next match however saw us struggling to get 6 players and a really off night losing to the Nomads at home 10-2, we were back on track with wins against Phatty’s Phukkers 7-5 and Harry Casuals 8-4 in our last 2 matches.
As we have a bye next week depending on the Nomads result, we could be still on top. Altogether a really fun Division, nice meeting up with new teams, different venues and new players as well as meeting up with guys who dropped down a season or 2 ago..
Summarising this first half, great fun, good results, all matches closely contested, couldn’t wish for a better start, Alayah star player thus far is Paul Devlin.
Our hopes for the second half, will be the same, I think it is wide open with several teams all challenging for top spot, we are looking forward to playing our first league match at Chilli Bar and a first ever visit to Harry Casual…

PHATTYS PHUKKERS – JIM T

Well we changed our name from the infamous “Los Locos Borrachos” to “Phatty’s Phukkers” the name change came under lots of scrutiny but at the end of the day we wanted to associate ourselves with our sponsor and host … so hence  “The Phukkers” !!!! It would appear that the “Dart’s Gods” don’t approve of the name change as our start to this season is nothing to write home about 1 -4 record is not what we expect.

So what is going on? Kevin missed the 1st few weeks, Colin’s darts mojo is somewhere else, Thuy is Thuy dependable, Jamie is on fire (most of the time) Benny is AWOL, Steve up and down, Pam had a motor bike accident, Brownie is thinking about the 2nd coming (not him) Jimish is the “Mr. Frustration” solid darts but! as for me? making up the numbers.

The second half of the season beckons and we can only hope for  a serious form reversal. We may get a game or two out of Mr.. Ben to make up for losing Jamie and Lucy. Good luck to Lucy and Jamie as they move on again and we wish them well with their new pending arrival. Kevin WILL win his games (have to say that) Jimish, Colin, Brownie when available will be more consistent so I predict we will be OK and out of the position we currently hold, next to bottom (some say I like that!!!) and end up a mid table team so that next season we can consolidate and take “The Phukkers” onward and upward.

New shirts are on the way! 2013/14, maybe that is our problem, lost without our true identity.

THE NOMADS – GLYN

There is a general ‘This is our year’ mentality about the Nomads this season. We have all improved as individuals and with the divisions reigning, Singles (Logan), Doubles (Jeff), Checks (Glyn) and Tons (Chad) champions in our squad we are feeling pretty confident about promotion.
Obviously our Achilles Heel has always been drawing too many matches, and this season has started no differently with two ties already, we always tend to do quite well in our singles so focus is winning those damn team games.
Having four out of the top 5 ranked players in the individual rankings is obviously driving this seasons success. Previously Chad was our main man with him cleaning up in the individual stats last season, but at the moment Jeff is our MVP with a 5-0 singles record and a 180 already under his belt, obviously Glyn is also undefeated but he’s had some very close calls in many of his games.
Our best match so far was our 10-2 annihilation of Alayah, which left the boys from Red singing drunken ditty’s to each other in consolation. Most frustrating was throwing away a 100 plus something lead in the team game to Mad House as they secured a 6-6 draw, thanks Coach.
As for the 2^nd half of the season? Let’s just say we haven’t played all our aces yet…
MVP: Jeff
Most Improved: David R
Golden boy: Chad
Couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo during the triples but I’ll win my singles: Logan

BLACK MAGIC – ROB 1

Black Magic curently sit just above the relegation places after a disappointing first half.  A first week thumping from Alayah was quickly forgotten after back-to-back 7-5 victories over Phatty’s Phukkers and Dirty Harry’s. The next match saw the biggest disappointment so far in dropping a close one to Baan Thai mostly through an inability to check out. Another loss to the very talented Nomads accounts for BM’s lowly spot.

Singles records have generally been quite positive, but a 4-11 win/loss record in doubles has seen us struggling before we even get to the singles. Another startling statistic is the 0-5 record in team games so far. It certainly isn’t hard to figure out why we find ourselves near the bottom.

Our best darts probably came out against Dirty Harry’s and the games against the Phukkers and Nomads were also good fun with contrasting results. The best individual performance so far would have to be White Barry White’s singles win over the very talented Chad.

Tintin’s untimely vacation has been a big factor in the downturn in our fortunes. We’re hoping to get him back soon!

R1 has the best singles record at 4-1 despite some inconsistent darts. White Barry is at 3-1, Drama 3-2 and the MIA Tintin 2-1.

Keys for a stronger second half include better checking, winning a few more doubles matches and perhaps even getting a team game here and there!

Division 3

CHARMED ASSASSINS- GYPSY PAT

Charmed Assassins have had the best start to a season in the three years I have been with the team, we were formerly known as Bernies 1, we currenly sit top of the division with an unbeaten record, however, we face a tough game on Tuesday night against No Star Where who are a very strong team, our unbeaten record could fall.

Our first game against Pinoy Patriots was strange, none of us could check that night but we pulled off a draw, the next game saw us take on the girls from ACDC, they have beaten us in the past, so I was surprised when we beat them 10-2,then we played The Prixx, a game I thought could go either way, but they had a very off night and we came out 9-3 winners, then we played host to Buddha Bar, another strange night for us, we all played badly that night, but managed to scrape home 7-5, last week we hosted the Rusty Spear Chuckers, with two of our best players missing we struggled, but again scraped home 7-5.

We have a strong team when everyone is available, but they not always are, it has been a great all round performance this season, lets hope we can keep it going.

THE PRIXX – MELVIN

The Prixxx had a great start this season beating Rusty Bucket 12-0 without even loosing a leg. Many thought we had a walkover against these team or just a typo error on the scoresheet! Rusty Bucket after loosing their sharp shooter in Warren Locksley, that too to us, isn’t quite the team they used to be so we knew the big win against them was not a great measure of our strength. But the next two wins which came against No Star Where and Buddha Bar i guess gave the other teams a warning signal that The Prixxx are serious in getting back to business in Division 2. The Prixxx were really put to test when we met Charmed Assasins. They played really well on a night when nothing seemed to work for us, not even arse luck! Loosing to them warned The Prixxx to not things for granted even in Division 3. Our most pressuring match has to be that against the fine ladies of ACDC. Having taken a 4-1 lead you would think this was going to be an easy night for The Prixxx, but the ladies had other plans for us and managed to sneak in a 4-5 lead against us. If we had lost this match, i think most of our darts would have been up for sale that night. Under all that pressure from these sweet charming ladies, we managed to win the last two singles and the team game to bag home the 3 points! Although they’ve not been bringing home results this season, the ladies will give you a run for your money! The Prixxx star player this season has to be Donald Lee who has yet to be defeated in the singles this season. Warren and Peter also has done well on individual results, with Warren having a high check and Peter having his first competitive 180. Although a little too early to predict, with not many difference in points won by the top 5 teams, the battle may be between The Prixxx and Charmed Assasins to finish tops in Division 3 this season. Looking forward to the rest of the season!

Division 4

BERNIES BEST – SHRINI

For autumn season Bernies Best chose new a home venue – Vinyl Bar, however we got 1^st bye in starting of season. We had a good start with 3-9 win against Boston in their home venue. However, we lost the next 2 matches at our home venue! the 2^ndmatch against G-Force and the 3^rd against Tavern. Our  4^thmatch against Dreamtime was a good win 10-2.We won all triples & doubles, team games and 4 singles.  There are 6 more rounds to go and Bernies Best looks forward positively to position itself and try to  qualify for promotion to Div. 3. Though G-Force and Udder Team are somewhat challenging. We have even more of a challenge in view of our star player Xuan’s anticipated long absence from Week 7 until next season. Will see her in next season with Jr. darter! Another good player Thanh Doan left for Sinapore to start new assignment.

As end of week 5 Thanh Tiger has made impressive performance topping in Tons and equal in Checks with Michael of G-Force.  Kalvin has also been consistent.

This week we meet Melvin ,who Captain’s one of the Division 3 front runners ,The Prixx. The ever smiling chap has been playing for a few years now and can sometimes [excuse me while I vomit] be seen in bars around town watching his team Man Utd. Here we find out a little more about him and his team.

1] Where you from originally Melvin and what brought you to Vietnam?

Malaysian (Kuala Lumpur) – Came to Vietnam when I was offered a job at RMIT University. Been in VN for 5 years now.

2] How long have you been playing darts for?

Been playing for 2.5 years now, the same time The Prixxx were formed.

3] The Prixxx have been quite a stable team in the time since you formed –who are the real characters in your team?

We have quite a few characters in our team, Kevin Kuruvilla aka Mr. Darts, he just knows everything that happens in the SIDL even before he became a committee member. I think he’ll be the President of SIDL someday! Sometimes I think he already is  Peter Ng, who is the mascot/entertainer of the team, he sings, he dances, and then hammers you with his triple 19’s! And then there’s Danny Green, not many knows this but this chap is actually in the ‘Peoples Committee of Ho Tung Mau Strip’.

4] You guys have done well to overcome the loss of Bourne [well except for relegation]. Who has stepped up?

Bourney has been a big miss to the The Prixxx, but Donald Lee who joined us only in our second year has improved dramatically! He had quite a long unbeaten run last season, and this season also yet to be defeated. He does have great passion for darts and that’s turned him into a very strong player. Warren our latest signing has been a ‘towering’ figure in the team as well.

5] Darts is not everything [well to normal people like you and me] .How do you spend your spare time?

Well Jim, I guess darts is everything to me – when not playing darts, I do darts meditation and watch darts cartoons. And if I still have time, then playing a bit of pool, watching the English soccer matches with my mates at the weekends.

6] Favourite venue to play at?

I would have to say Ice Blue as you can go there anytime of the week and have some good games there as there’s always people to play with. But Game On is also one of my favorite’s now as they’ve nicely spaced out the darts area – truly a sports bar.

7] Who are your favourite opponents?

Team Viet –  very friendly and very good players. Always a pleasure to play them. That’s why its hard to beat them coz I don’t want to hurt the feelings of such nice people.

8] That takeaway dilemma- Curry or Pizza? Curry for sure!

9] If you had the power to change anything in The SIDL what would it be?

Our darts ‘World Cup’ competition – the format of the match is not interesting! It is draggy and matches do not have to be played until the end. I would replace that with a (darts) Cricket Competition. Can make it even more interesting with a blind draw of players to create groups.

10] I think your darts has improved since I first met you –what do you put that down too?

Practicing with the big boys (and girls!) of darts! It pushes me to do better. I’ve recently been winning against some good players and to me that’s big coz these guys are great players! Even sweeter when they’re from Division 1.

11] Your team started the Twitter experiment last season .How has that worked out and what was behind the idea?

It didn’t take off as well as we expected. If a lot more teams were tweeting, I guess that would have made it more interesting with ‘live updates’ being tweeted on match nights.

12] Sum up playing with Matt Cowan in less than 8 words.

‘He came, he checked, he never came back’

– played only one match this season but managed to get four checks on the night and the match winning point against Buddha Bar!

13] What annoys you most when playing darts?

Cigarette smoke! Sometimes it’s just unbearable. Wish all bars here had a ‘smoking/non-smoking’ area.

14] Tell us how you guys came up with the name The Prixxx.

The whole team had a brainstorm session at Peaches to come up with the team name. As soon as Matt Cowan suggested ‘The Prixxx’ we thought it was a good match between the players and darts – and quite catchy too. How’d you like our logo?

15] What type of darts do you play with?

Elkadart – 24gms, the only darts I’ve been using since I started playing.

16]  And finally a personal question from me-I was confused a few weeks back with who Jiggy was – Why has Mark got a new name?

It’s actually ‘Jiggy Bitch’. Mark thought he needed a change in name to bring him better luck in his matches and his first match night as Jiggy was awesome, but now I think he needs a new name again. Suggestions welcomed!

Gypsy Pat’s Predictions

Well after a few poor weeks in his early prediction career ,Gypsy Pat I guess you can say is coming into form – actually getting three out of four results correct and one actual score correct!!

Here were last week’s Prediction and actual scores in brackets :

Div 1- Really Rottens 7    V Those Guys 5  [ 8-4]

Div2 – Nomads 8 v Black Magic 4  [9-3]

Div 3 – Buddha 6 v NSW 6  [5-7]

Div 4 – Tavern 5 v Udder Team 7  [5-7]

So on to this week’s predictions for the final round of matches before the half time break.

D1

 Mabuhay v Buhahy Na Buhay

 Not to hard to predict a win for the allstars, but by what score, Mabuhay are top and BNB lie in 4th, having lost two games, drawn 1 and won two, Mabuhay have three players in the top 10, whilst BNB have two, with the likes of Adrian, Jun and Jonel from Mabuy up against players of Roden and Litos’ calibre, it is going to be a high scoring game, so onto my prediction, I’m going with: Mabuhay 8-4 BNB.

D2

 Dirty Harrys v Phukkers

 Well, sorry Jimish but I think this game is also a forgone conclusion, Dirty Harry’s lie 4th and the Phukker’s are 6th, Devo and Dan make the top 10, no one from the Phukkers are there. DH have won 2, lost 2 and drawn 1, whilst the Phukkers have won 1 and lost 4, not good, my prediction is: Dirty Harrys 9-3 Phukkers.

D3

No Star Where v Charmed Assassins

 Hmmm, having to do a prediction in a game I will participate in isn’t easy, we scraped a win last week against  the Rusty Spear Chuckers, a team that has had some poor results, two of our best players were missing last week. We are currently top with 4 wins and a draw, NSW are coming back from there slow start ( well slow compared to last season), so will be a big threat, both teams have two players in the top 10, I think this is going to be a close game that could go either way, my prediction is NSW 7-5 Charmed Assassins.

D4

 Boston v GForce

 Another forgone conclusion, Gforce sit in second place, with only the difference in legs seperating them from the top, Boston sit fifth and are without a win so far, also I know Boston struggle to put a settled team together every week. GForce have three players in the top ten, my prediction is Boston 1-11 GForce

News And Gossip

Not much to report this week. But Dreamtime have moved venues and now reside at Charm Bar. I reckon after talking to their captain Tom over the weekend they will be fine for the rest of the season. This leaves Saigon’s newest pub with no team now though ,which is a shame because it does have a rather nice darts area. It will be interesting if they manage to get a team together next season or if another team decide to relocate there.

View from the Oche

Late again this week after no View from the Oche last week – I really need to organise my weekends better. Unfortunately we have have no Who Are Ya? this week either sorry but we have match reports from last Tuesday and Gypsy Pat tries to improve his predictions which at present are worse than the Phukkers doubles results and that is saying something  [ 2 wins from 15 attempts] and a little bit of news and gossip too.

Jim T’ s early experiences of playing darts

As we approach the half way point I am hopefully going to get in touch with team Captains next week and get their half time reports on how their teams have done so far.

Division 1

Those Guys v Buccaneers

It is as tight as Chairman Lee’s sphincter in a Bangkok ladyboy bar, at the bottom of Division 1 and these two played out a match that unfortunately left them filling the last two spots. However promising performances from both sides and Those Guys will still see plenty of hope in picking up their first win of the season soon. The draw specialists went toe to toe with the Buccaneers, claiming the draw in the team game after what looked a real team effort. The Buccaneers ,or should that be Sherdians old boys plus Brett, saw a great performance from Matt, who helped himself to five checks and five tons.He was aidied by visiting Alan ,who showed he still has it and also got five tons – all we need now is Tim Russell to make an appearance ,with Kris dribbling ice cream and it will be 2010 all over again. For Those Guys, Odi and B-Lo went ton crazy, while Pete and Matt got vital checks ,with three each. Do not know what happened to my old mate Mario , with no tons – must have been a lot of triple ones eh Mario!!!

Really Rottens v Team Viet

The second draw in Div 1 was fought out between the vastly improved Really Rottens and Team Viet. The result keeps them in both in the top three but already a long way behind Mabuhay ,who look well on the way to the reclaiming their title ,even at this early stage.It was a closely fought match that went to and fro ,with the Rottens winning the team game to get a point. A surprisingly low number of tons for the Rottens with Tom and Roch getting two a piece.Team Viet were a little more successful ,especially Xu with seven.He also top checked with four while for the Rottens, Tom and Guppy were the main danger men. Tom also got an 81 high finish.

Ice Blue v Mabuhay

The Champs and the Runners Up from last season took to the oche with contrasting form so far, as Mabuhay have consolidated top position and Ice Blue ,after the uncertainty of actually competing, have fallen back into the main pack and are missing Rick on a regular basis.  Ice Blue though they lost this match, went down fighting and can be proud of their efforts.Tam continues to be the form player for  them and on the night got himself five tons and four checks, as well as defeating the dangerous Jonel. Matt was the only player apart from Tam to get a Singles win and that proved costly. For Mabuhay , three players with 7 tons ,the likely suspects of Jun and Jonel ,joined this night by Adrian. These three dominated the checking for the champs with a little help from Joeart.

Division 2

Phatty Phukkers V Alayah

These two teams were reunited and went into the game in contrasting positions . Alayah have had a solid start and are one of the favourites to return to Div 1 ,however  the Phukkers are on a losing run and players are showing no consistency in their play and the team are struggling to stay in the division at this stage. A game that looked over at one stage as Alayah held a 4-1 lead ,developed into quite a tense affair and a 7 -5 win for Alayah. Captain Lee  looked nervous going into the crucial team game but his sides experience and determination resulted in a comfortable checkout by Huck to claim the match. Phukkers won 4 of the six Singles but lost the match again in the doubles where pairings are just are not working. Paul and Huck did most of the damage for Alayah with Huck getting 5 checks to go alongside his 3 tons and Paul 4 checks and 4 tons. In the large Phukkers squad there was a good night for Jamie who got three checks and a 107 high finish and Jimish helped himself to 5 tons to go with his three checks .

Where do the Phukkers go from here ??

Nomads v Madhouse

A real see –saw battle between Nomads and Madhouse last Tuesday, where Madhouse won the first three games ,lost the next six and somehow got the last three to snatch an unlikely draw. Yet again Nomads just don’t seem able to close the match from winning positions [except against my team]. It would be an interesting reading to see exactly how many matches they have drawn in the last three seasons. After a terrible start in the triples and doubles, they roared back and with Singles wins for their top 4 performers ,they looked poised to finish the night joint top , but wins for Zach and Sam gave Madhouse hope going into the team game and Coach got the all important check. I believe two of the Nomads got 180 ‘s –well done to Glyn and Jeff. They both dominated the tons for their team,on a quiet night for Chad in that area. He made up for his lack of tons though with the top gun check wise with four. Few checks for Madhouse, for whom Zach got two and also four checks.

Black Magic v Baan Thai

Baan Thai achieved  their first win of  the season with a narrow 7-5 win over what seemed an understrength Black Magic. The win is not quite enough to lift them off the bottom of the table but will give them great encouragement for the coming weeks and their likely relegation battle with the Phukkers.It actually should have been an easier match for the D2 team as they raced into a 5- 1 lead, no doubt leaving Rob1 in a bewildered mess. However Black Magic are a fighting team if nothing else and Rob does not give up lost causes and a strong Singles performance ,winning four out of the six ,gave them the chance of a well earned draw. But alas all their efforts were to no avail as Baan Thai clinched the game in dramatic fashion ,getting the team game check from the outstanding Rey. The young man had a great night getting the full Monty of 6 checks and 4 tons. He was supported well by his team mates too. For poor Black Magic ,a measly two tons were scored by the whole team and I am sure Rob and Drama take no pleasure in being the top dogs with one each!!!!! White Barry White topped the checking charts for them with three.

What was that darling ?Black Magic’s top tons scorer scored how many?!!!

Division 3

Featured match

The Rusty Spear Chuckers v No Star Where

No Star Where have struggled to overcome their disappointment about not getting promoted last year after topping the league before the playoffs and their form has been a little inconsistent. They made no mistake in this match though against the Spear Chuckers who remain firmly at the bottom of the table ,with no points. Spear Chuckers registered two new players ,so it may be that they are struggling a little to get enough players on any given Tuesday and this may account for their indifferent form thus far. A comfortable 10 -2 victory for NSW ,with only Hoa and Rob W losing matches.Rome managed 2 checks for the Chuckers [and a Singles win] ,alongside a new player ,but there wasn’t much else to shout about for them in all honesty.  A real team effort for NSW ,with all players getting checks and tons. Mal C and El Tel the standout performers.

In the other matches the  tense battle between Charmed Assassins and Buddha was as close as expected ,with the Assassins coming out with a 7-5 victory, due in the main to an impressive 5 out of 6 Singles victories. Finally , a rather surprsingly comofrtable victory for the Patriots over ACDC , 9-3,which sees them stay in touch with the top two of the Assassins and The Prixx. it promises to be a very interesting second half of the season in this Division.

Division 4

Featured match

Bernies Best v Tavern

In a Division where there will only be 10 games played ,after the Lunatics withdrawl , teams will need to grab as many points as they can early on. These two teams have been around a long time and will no doubt fancy their chances of finishing at the top of the pile, though both have had inconsistent starts . The match ended up with a narrow 7-5 win for the Tavern. A strong Singles performance gave them the upper hand ,with wins for George, Robert , Brendan and Josh. Thanh Tiger scored an impressive 5 tons for Bernies and Kalvin got three checks but it just wasn’t enough and losing the last three matches was fatal.Brendan was the outstanding performer for the Tavern ,with five tons and four checks. Nice to see my old mate Xuan get a Singles victory as well for Bernies!!

In the other match The Udder team romped to another win and must fancy their chances of getting close to top team G-Force in the coming weeks.An impressive 11- 1 win ,over Game On’s Dreamtime , who experienced a nightmare and as mentioned below are also maybe struggling for regular players. One does not hope they go the same way as their stable mates Lunatics.Captain Andy led well from the front for his team from The Spotted Cow.

Gypsy Pat’s Predictions

Well our resident Romany had atrocious predictions two weeks ago so let’s see if a week’s rest has helped him get his psychic vibes sorted with this week’s predictions.

Division 1

 

Really Rottens v Those Guys

RR are having a good season so far and are in 2nd place, while TGs languish at the bottom of the table, there is only one player from each team in the top 10, Big Pete from TG is 6th and Tom from RR is 9th, RRs have won 2 lost 1 and drawn 1, while TGs have no wins, 1 loss and 3 draws, I think it will be a tight game, but, RR will overcome TG to clinch a 7-5 win.

Division 2

 

Nomads v Black Magic

The Nomads currently hold 2nd place while BM are 4th, both teams have 2 wins, but BM have lost 2 whilst the Nomads have drawn two, its in the individual players where the difference in teams lie, with the Nomads players occupying 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th places, only Rob1 makes it into the top 10 at 7th. I think the Nomads are going to be too strong for BM and I predict: Nomads 8-4 BM.

Division 3

 

Buddha Bar v No Star Where

There is not much between these two teams, both have won two games, Buddha having lost 2 whilst NSW lost 1, drew 1. NSW are 4th and Buddha 5th, only one player from each team make the top 10, Fudgie sits in 6th place and Scotty 10th. We only scraped a win against Buddha Bar last week, both teams are strong, I think this game is pretty evenly matched, prediction: Buddha Bar 6-6 NSW.

Division 4

 

Tavern v The Udder Team

There is not much separating these two teams, Udder sit in 2nd place and Tavern 3rd, George from Tavern tops the table and two players from Udder make the top 10, I know Tavern signed a couple of decent players, so this is goig to be close, although Udder are a new team and are getting stronger, this will be a tight game but I think The Udder Team will scrape a win, prediction Tavern 5-7 The Udder Team

The last couple of guys to place bets on Gypsy Pat’s predictions have fallen on hard times

News and Gossip

Well I expressed my concern in the last edition that Lunatics could be in trouble having only completed one match and thus it came to pass and they have probably gone down as one of the shortest lasting teams in SIDL history. It basically came down to not having enough committed players and so fair enough .I like the guys at Game On but looking at Dreamtime’s line up this week they too seem to be a little short on numbers and it has to be hoped that the venue doesn’t see another team fold because the darts area has some real potential and were plans to provide more darts space upstairs –I guess watch this space.

Some interesting talk on the website regarding the developments at Red in regards to darts provision. It has been the premier darts venue over the last few years hosting most of the finals of tournaments and quite rightly so, with three floors with dart boards on them but times they are a changing. I mentioned in my last edition about the rise of soft tip darts in Saigon [though I don’t actually know anyone who plays myself] and Brian from Charmed Assassins has pointed out that Red ,having put soft tip machines downstairs and also upstairs may not now be the automatic choice for finals now. He may have a point and other venues may well be capable of holding finals now ,such places as Universal and Harry Casual [ both of which I will visit for the first time this season -so I cannot really comment on their suitability.]

I was rather ill when we played Madhouse at Phattys a couple of weeks back and one thing that i haven’t really noticed before but certainly did that night is how much some guys actually smoke on a darts night. It wasn’t just the numbers of guys who smoked ,which surprised me but some were literally chain smoking. Our darts nights are fun but bloody hell they certainly ain’t healthy!!!!!

As I lay on my sick bed on the holiday weekend it was great to see LIVE DARTS and the Sydney Masters on TV ,won in clinical fashion by The Power -hopefully we will get to see more and more of this on Fox – [hope so cos they show fuck all else!!]

Cheer

Jimish