Premier: Egypt's Marsa Alam Hosts Darts International Championship

By Passant El Zitony, Maydaa Abo El-Nadar

CAIRO, MAR.17 (SEE) - The Egyptian city of Marsa Alam in the Red Sea Governorate is going to host the Darts Open scheduled to take place from the 26th of March to the first of April.

177 players from Arab, African, and European countries, throughout six days, at inpidual and double competitions, pided in males’ and females’ categories. The awards’ value is 40 thousand USD, to be distributed at the closing ceremony.

The tournament is going to take place under the auspices of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. Also, The International Darts Federation (IDF) decided to celebrate the tournament on an annual basis.

Several sports journalists, reporters, broadcasters from the Egyptian Radio and Television, FM Radio, and satellite TV channels will cover the event. Also, representatives from the Ministry and the Egyptian Darts Federation (EDF) will be present.

This is the first time for an Arab country and the Middle East to receive an official darts championship. In addition, the EDF requested from IDF to host another annual and official tournament, so that Egypt could host two annual championships, one at the Red Sea and other at the Mediterranean one.

To revive tourism in Egypt and to offer an enjoyable ambiance for the players, their accompaniments, and for international media, the EDF aims at celebrating upcoming tournaments at different tourist sites.

One of the important facts on which the darts championships rely on is tourism, bearing in mind that the sport is related to the tourism sector. Thus, celebrating this kind of competitions is an opportunity for sports federations to add value to the national economy.

In this regard, the EDF’s president Yehia Abdel Kader expressed, “Generally, organizing sports championships is a heavy financial responsibility, and requires the cooperation of many sources. So I would like to thank all the sponsors from the private sector and the patriot businessmen, who accepted to carry such a responsibility.”

[caption id="attachment_41182" align="aligncenter" width="305"] The Egyptian Darts Federation's President Yehia Abdel Kader[/caption]

“I also highly appreciate the effort paid by the Egyptian media to spread the sport. Also, the State Information Service and the foreign correspondents showed important support.”

“Last but not least, I would like to thank the Red Sea Governorate Ahmed Abd Allah for offering the assistance needed.”