Royal Calcutta Golf Club hosted the fifth edition of its annual Royal Premier Darts League, in association with t2, from February 19 to 26 at the club tea lawns. The event got off to a grand start with a fashion show, where members of the 12 participating teams walked the ramp led by a professional model. Earlier, owners of the teams had selected their team members through a bidding process. Teams were divided into two groups. The six teams in each group played league matches amongst themselves with the top two teams from each group qualifying for Gold Cup and the third- and fourth-ranked teams from each group qualifying for Silver Cup. Gold and Silver Cup semi-finals and finals were played on the last day, with closely contested matches and display of excellent target skills by all players. Team Royal Super Knights won the Gold Cup while City Knights were named winners of the Siver Cup. As on the final night, live performances every evening by music bands with DJs belting out foot-tapping music, added a festive atmosphere and made sure that members, guests and participants had a wonderful experience. Glimpses.
Manisha Srivastava of Royal Super Knights, who was declared Most Valuable Woman Player, received her prize from RCGC captain Rohan Ghosh and sports convenor Titoo Baweja. “Being recognised as the most valuable player is definitely motivating,” she said
Sashank Shah (left) of City Knights was awarded the Most Valuable Male Player by Titoo Baweja
Vijay Mittal (left) of Biscotti Barrels won the prize for highest scorer
Owner Vinnay Dalmia (left) accepted the prize for the highest check on behalf of winner Harshvardhan Sharma of Team 24, from RCGC sports convenor Titoo Baweja
“This was the fifth edition of the Royal Darts Premier League. It’s been a great journey for me to conceive this tournament since 2019. From seven teams and 56 players, it has now grown to 12 teams and 100-plus participants. Another very important difference is that the number of lady participants has grown considerably, with 28 ladies participating this year. It is very encouraging to see so many ladies coming forward and winning their matches and performing well. This has been a super tournament as far as the participation of members is concerned,” said club sports coordinator, Rajesh Chandan.
“We have been hosting the Darts League for many years now. Each year it’s getting bigger and better. Most participants are regular darters, though some are new. It was good to see new lady darters interested in the game. Events like this help bring the club closer. Initially, we were only a golfing club, but now bowling and darts have made all segments of the club come together. As in earlier years, there is a lot of bonhomie and a gala atmosphere with members and their families enjoying it all together. Best of all, it’s very competitive but at the same time, it is a night of fun for all of us,” said RCGC captain Rohan Ghosh.
“This is just the fifth year of the RDPL tournament and it has already become a landmark event in Calcutta. Every club in the city is now following the trend and has started similar competitions. For us, to put this up every year and make it better than the last year is an extremely gratifying experience. A big thanks to everybody associated with this and for supporting us to make this tournament such a huge success,” said RCGC sports convenor Titoo Baweja.
Team Jai Ho, runners-up in the RDPL Gold Cup category, pose with their trophy along with RCGC captain Rohan Ghosh (extreme right) and sports convenor Titoo Baweja (second from right)
Titoo Baweja and Rohan Ghosh with team UGW, the proud recipients of the RDPL Silver Cup runners-up trophy
(L-R) Emeli, fashion show
Emeli and her band of musicians entertained the audience with popular Western and Bollywood numbers soon after the prize distribution.
On the inaugural evening, participants of the Royal Dart Premier League took part in a fashion show in which each team walked the ramp, led by a professional model.
Ishaan Sarkar (extreme left) and Manisha Srivastava (second from left) with their prize for the Most Valuable Pair of the Tournament
RDPL Silver Cup champions City Knights proudly lift their winners’ trophy. “We really enjoyed taking part in this tournament. All team members of City Knights performed really well. This victory is a great honour for all of us. I am thankful to RCGC for organising such a fantastic tournament. This was a great competition, full of enjoyment and bonhomie,” said owner of City Knights, Sanjay Chowdhary (third from right).
Rajesh Chandan of Royal Super Knights takes aim during the final of the RDPL Gold Cup, which his team went on to win