It was a spectacular final for the International Darts Open which was held for the first time in the Middle East. The five-day event in the Egyptian resort of Hurghada saw the participation of 72 darts players who competed in four disciplines: the single event for men and women and the double event for men and women. The competitors represented nine countries, including Egypt, the UAE, Holland, Bahrain, Libya, Estonia, the UK, Germany and the Philippine. The $40,000 competition, held from 26 March to 1 April, saw the participants compete according to the regulations of the World Darts Federation (WDF) which require that the number of participants represent the doubling of the number 8, which allows the competition to be based on a knock-out system. The men's singles event saw the participation of 48 players and 18 in the doubles, which made the competition official. Unfortunately, only six women took part in their singles and doubles event, three in each, making the event unofficial. But, in appreciation of their keenness to show up and participate in the competition, the board of directors of the Egyptian Darts Federation decided that they would still compete in a “special event” to be held on the sidelines as an honorary participation in the Egypt International Championship. Egyptian federation officials also allocated special prize money for the women in support of their love for the sport. It was hoped that their participation would lead to an increase in women playing darts. President of the Bahraini Darts Federation Aref Mourad told Al-Ahram Weekly that his country will follow the Egyptian Federation's footsteps by holding their inaugural international event in the sport. “We are looking forward to having our own event next year and will definitely need the experience of the Egyptian officials,” Mourad said. The president of the Egyptian Federation Yehia Abdel-Kader revealed that the next competition for Egypt will be the Mediterranean Darts Championship which is scheduled for September. First place in the men's doubles went to the duo Mohamed Abdel-Rehim of the UAE and Alain Abiabi of the Philippines, while second place was taken by the Egyptian duo Amr Fahmi and Radi Nabil. Two teams claimed third place, Bahrain which comprised Abdalla Hagi and Aref Mourad and the Egyptian duo of Wa'el Al-Kadi and Ayman Abdel-Hamid. It was the Philippine's Alain Abiabi who claimed first place in the singles event, followed by Estonia's Alvar Paia. Both Mohamed Gharieb and Amr Fahmi won third place. Four prizes were awarded for fifth place: Walid Anwar and Emam Mohamed from Egypt, the UAE's Mohamed Abdel-Rehim and Bahrain's Abdalla Hagi. The Egyptian women dominated positions from first to fifth – but only because there were no other participants from any other countries. Marwa Shanon and Aisha Mohamed claimed first and second place respectively, Nada Mahmoud and Amina Sayed claimed took third and fourth place, while Reem Mahmoud and Salma Mohamed shared fifth place.
