PHILIPPINES' star Ronald Briones was the winner of the first stage of the DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD event on Sunday as he defeated Takehiro Suzuki in the final in Hong Kong.
Sunday's event was the first of eight stages to be held in DARTSLIVE's Soft Darts World Championship this year, which will culminate in the Grand Final on December 14 & 15 in Hong Kong.
Briones came through the 128-player field in style as he picked up the £8,000 first prize initially defeating fellow countrymen Christian Perez, Lourence Ilagan and Eduardo Santos.
He then overcame recent SUPERDARTS winner Scott Kirchner 3-1 in the semi-finals before defeating Japan's Takehiro Suzuki by the same scoreline in the final.
"I'm so happy to have started off this year with a win," said Briones, who also won a stage of last year's event. "I'm glad to get some points on the board and I feel so happy."
DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD is the world's biggest soft-tip tournament, with over £300,000 prize money on offer across the eight stages and the Grand Finals.
Stage Two will be held on May 26 in Hong Kong, with Stage Three being held in France on June 16 as the tournament visits Europe, where a 256-player field will compete in La Rochelle.
The Grand Final, which will take place in Hong Kong on December 14-15, will feature the top 100 ranked players following the eight stages - for more information and entry details, please visit http://darts-theworld.com/en/schedule/.
"Europe is providing to be a great market and Stage Three will be a mega event in La Rochelle," said DARTSLIVE INTERNATIONAL Chief Executive Steve Ngu.
"We're expecting a big influx of players from all around Europe, but especially from the UK."
Ngu added: "Due to the popularity of soft-tip darts, especially now in the US, we will shortly be launching a tour in the USA [and] expanding into other countries such as Korea."
DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD
Soft Darts World Championship 2013
Stage One, April 28 - i Darts Club, Tsin Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Quarter-Finals
Ronald Briones 3-2 Eduardo Santos
Scott Kirchner 3–0 Larry Butler
Takehiro Suzuki 3–0 Morihiro Hashimoto
Harith Lim 3–2 Paul Lim
Semi-Finals
Ronald Briones 3-1 Scott Kirchner
Takehiro Suzuki 3–1 Harith Lim
Final
Ronald Briones 3–1 Takehiro Suzuki
Final - Leg-by-Leg
701/Cricket/Cricket/701/Choice - Loser throws first.
0-0 - Suzuki wins the bull and throws first
0-1 - Suzuki wins in 18 darts, with Briones sitting on 32
1-1 - Briones has a disastrous start hitting only one mark, but recovers well to win with an average of 5.57 and 331 points against Suzuki's 298 points and 5.17 average.
2-1 - Briones wins cricket with 129 points and a 4.8 average against a below-par Suzuki with 84 points and only a 3.5 mark average.
3-1 - Briones checks out 62 with single 12, bull to win in 17 darts, with Suzuki on 101.
DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD
Soft Darts World Championship 2013 Schedule
Stage One - April 28, Hong Kong
Stage Two - May 26, Hong Kong
Stage Three - June 16, France
Stage Four - July 14, Korea
Stage Five - August 25, TBA
Stage Six - September 21, USA
Stage Seven - October 13, Hong Kong
Stage Eight - November 3, Hong Kong
Grand Final - Dec 14-15, Hong Kong
For more information and entry details, please visit http://darts-theworld.com/en/schedule/.