JEDDAH , 26 December 2003 — Bobby Baraquel Rudy Padua's dream was realized in the final round of the 'Ay Sarap Catering' Open Singles Darts tournament. The occasion, a best of 15 legs championship match with 2002 defending champion Caloy Jalbuna and the result, a masterful 8-4 victory over Jalbuna to bag the coveted Open Singles crown.
Seeded at the No. 2 spot after the elimination round, Padua barged into the finals with a 5-0 shellacking of newcomer Cris Amores in their best of 9 legs semifinal stepladder match.
Padua closed out the series with an average of 21 darts finishes, the most spectacular one of which was in the 3rd leg when he came from behind with a 19-dart finish on lines of Ton40-81-60-60-60-80-D10 negating Amores' scores of 55-Ton80-Ton-Ton-48-12-4. Padua rode on his momentum with another 18 darts finish in the 1st leg on lines of 41-Ton-81-85-Ton25-S19-S18-D16. Undaunted, Jalbuna fought back in the third canto to trail 1-2 via a D-20 checkout. He managed to equalize the match with a back-breaking 17-dart finish on lines of Ton40-Ton-60-41-Ton-S20-D20.
Jalbuna surged ahead for a 3-2 lead in the 5th leg with another 18-dart finish with scores of Ton40-60-83-80-60-S18-S20-D20.
In the crucial 9th leg, Padua seared the boards with 95-60-Ton-83-59-54-S18-D16 for an 18 darts finish and a morale-boosting 5-4 lead. Jalbuna failed to hit the doubles in the 10th leg and Padua capitalized on Jalbuna's miscues with a 22-dart finish via D-8 to pad his lead to 6-4.
In the 11th leg, Jalbuna bravely fought back with scores of 55-83-60-Ton40-Ton27, while Padua countered with Ton-30-Ton40-60-Ton39. Jalbuna, however, succumbed to pressure as he miserably failed to close out a D-18. With lady luck smiling on him, Padua took a commanding 7-4 advantage via a D-8 checkout and another 17-dart finish.
