By MARK REY MONTEJO
Koronadal City’s very own Christian Perez hit his mark in the annals of Philippine dart history.
Perez became the first-ever Filipino to win in the European Darts Grand Prix after beating Dutch Niels Zonneveld, 6-4, on Friday, April 19 in Sindelfingen, Germany.
The 42-year-old displayed his feathery touch and poise in the face of immense pressure as he clawed back from a 4-3 deficit, closing it out with three consecutive racks to outlast his Dutch rival.
He set up a second round match against former two-time PDC world champion Gary Anderson of Scotland on Saturday, April 20 in hopes to sustain the historic run.
The South Cotabato’s marksman went toe-to-toe against his Dutch rival until they saw themselves tie at 3-3. Zonneveld put up a 12-darter to gain a 4-3 lead.
Not to be deterred, Perez pulled himself together and banked on his experience to list an 11-darter that proved to be the dagger to the heart of his much younger rival.
Perez also became the first and only Filipino darter to obtain a Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Pro Tour card in the United Kingdom.
Last year, the pride of Koronadal made his debut in Hildesheim, Germany where he advanced to the quarters of Event 13.
In that tournament, Perez turned heads as he downed formidable foes in the likes of Czech Karel Sedlacek, former world champ Rob Cross, Luke Woodhouse and Jamie Hughes of England.
However, his remarkable winning ways were spoiled by English Connor Scutt.
Perez and Lourence Ilagan reached the quarterfinals as well in the MyDiesel Claim 2023 World Cup Darts (WCD) in Frankfurt, Germany last June.
