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
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 2nd 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
Division 3
CHARMED ASSASSINS- GYPSY PAT
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!
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.
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.
loslocosborrachos 
I think Gypsy Pats crystal ball is off-line, the prediction result sure reverse.