MoBay ready to host Caribbean Cup, PDC darts

Western Bureau:

JAMAICA IS set to become the epicentre of darts in Latin America and the Caribbean from July 19 to 29 when the Montego Bay Convention Centre plays host to the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) qualifier, which will be staged alongside the 2024 Caribbean Cup Darts Championship.

Winston Ferguson, president of the Jamaica Darts Association (JDA), believes that having the PDC qualifiers and the Caribbean Cup in the same nine-day window is possibly the biggest boost darts in the Latin American and the Caribbean could get at any given time.

As it relates to the Caribbean Cup, which was last played in 2018, Ferguson said that as the host nation, he is expecting that Jamaica, which won the first four stagings of the tournament, the symbol of Caribbean darts supremacy, to regain the coveted title.

“We have been wanting to stage this event since 2014, and we had everything to do it in 2020 but COVID-19 came and stopped us in our tracks,” said Ferguson, who thinks that hosting the tournament will further advertise Jamaica as a capable sports tourism destination.

“The last time the Caribbean Cup was staged, Trinidad and Tobago, who were the hosts, emerged as the champions, we are aiming to do the same here on home soil,” said Evon Faulkner, who will serve as tournament director for the PDC qualifiers, which will feature at least six teams from Latin America and the Caribbean and will see the winners qualifying for the World Cup Championship in England in December; and the Caribbean Cup, which is a PDC qualifier.

“The Caribbean Cup is led by the Caribbean Darts Association (CDA) and that is between countries of the Caribbean, countries like Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados…major Caribbean countries…St Lucia, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Guyana, Turks and Caicos…all the top teams,” said Faulknor, who expects each country to field a minimum of 20 participants.

“The other tournament is a PDC qualifier…the PDC is the outfit that runs professional darts globally, there is an outfit called Champion Darts Latin America and the Caribbean, which represents the PDC in the region and they will be leading the PDC qualifiers here in Jamaica. The PDC qualifiers will see players coming from countries from the Latin American region…Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Panama, in addition to the Caribbean players, who have aspirations to play darts on the global stage.”

COMPLETELY SATISFIED

Last Saturday, two of the CDC’s top officials, Jeff Good, the chief executive officer of the Championship Dart Latin America and the Caribbean; and Peter Citera, the chief executive officer of the CDC, visited Jamaica to be updated on the preparation for the tournaments and, following their examination of the facilities at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, commended the local organisers, noting that they were completely satisfied.

“The venue is fantastic…if I could take this venue and replicate it, anywhere we play, it would be a dream, to be honest,” said Citera.

“The space is great, it is layed out well, and it is obvious that it is well taken care of, and it translates well for our event.”

Having decided to take the tournament, which was initially slated for the National Indoor Centre, in Kingston, to Montego Bay, Ferguson is hoping to solicit the support of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as he believes the events, which are poised to attract worldwide attention, could enhance the tourism product and draw positive attention to Montego Bay.

The PDC qualifiers will go from July 19 to 21, while the Caribbean Cup will begin on July 22 and end on the 29th.