Sport - A group of KwaZulu-Natal darts players will take on the country’s best when the richest competition on the continent reaches the final stage in Cape Town this weekend.
Four players from the Chatsworth and Districts Darts Association - Rajan Odayar, Carl Gabriel, Pranaven Odayar and Nathaniel Singh - and Pietermaritzburg-based Devek Harryparsad, will vie for the title of Last Man Standing and the main prize of R30 000 at the GrandWest Casino in the Mother City.
It is regarded as the biggest tournament in South Africa, and the continent, with competitors from various parts of Africa having participated in the regional qualifier events.
The top 64 from each of the qualifiers are eligible for the showdown, an initiative of the country’s first overseas-based professional, Capetonian Devon Petersen.
With the sport enjoying amateur status in South Africa, the Last Man Standing gives players an insight into the professional arena and possibly opens a window to a full-time career abroad.
Rajan, 52, and Gabriel, 26, spearhead the challenge of the local contingent.
The former won two of the three regional qualifiers in Pietermaritzburg, and the latter is the current South African singles champion.
They are no strangers to the event - last year, Rajan reached the last 16, and Gabriel finished in the last 32 stage.
Previously, the tournament served as a qualifier for the Professional Darts Corporation World Cup, whereby the winner would partner Petersen to contest the doubles category in Europe.
This time there is no World Cup prize, but players compete for a cash prize pool of R100000.
“It’s all about practise,” said Rajan. His nephew, Pranaven, is in the playing group, and Pranaven’s father Morgan will travel to make it a family affair.
“I practise at least an hour to 90 minutes every day, and some days for two hours. The more you practise the luckier you get, is what Gary Player said.
“I started playing competitively very late, in 2000, but for the past 12 years I’ve got my KZN colours, and I’ve been to various national champs in Bloemfontein, Gauteng, North West, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town,” said Rajan.
Gabriel is familiar with the bright lights of major darts tournaments. At 15, he represented South Africa at the non-professional Junior World Cup in the Netherlands in 2007.
In recent times, he flew the country’s flag at the All Africa Games in Botswana and in Namibia.
For Queensburgh resident Gabriel, who was introduced to the sport by his late father, Gerard, events such as these help to raise the awareness of the sport among the general public, and clear the myth that it is purely a pub sport.
Reaching a level where one could play professionally would be a bonus, he added.
“The aim is to get more exposure for the sport and to grow it.
Currently, we can’t play professionally because to do that you have to be ranked, and those rankings tournaments are in Europe.
I am just happy that we get an opportunity to play in such a big competition.
“The sport is heading in the right direction as long as we are getting more people involved as players and spectators. If there can be TV coverage, it would be a massive boost. My ambition would be to go pro overseas one day,” said Gabriel, who turns out locally for Sialkot Celtic.
Singh, who represents Arrows, also in the Chatsworth district, started as a teenager but gave up the sport for about 10years.
In the second year since he started throwing competitively, Singh achieved his provincial colours.
“I’ve got a passion for the sport and would love to make it to the semis at least. I also want to achieve my South African colours,” said the businessman.