The School of Nursing (SON) Panthers continued to dominate in this year’s Palarong Atenista: Darts Women, bagging 2 out of 3 consecutive legs in the final round, guarding the gold podium from last year’s victory. 

The game followed the mechanics of each player having 301-finish per leg, and whoever reaches first to 0 with a shot of double grabs the win. 

Neatly sweeping all the opponents during the elimination round, SON Panthers’ Kat Monteagudo advanced to the semis with no sweat, standing 4-0 in Bracket A.

During the semi-final round, SON Panthers’ Monteguado scratched the B&M Vipers but failed to clear the first leg, putting the Vipers in the lead.

Determined to turn the tables, Monteguado cleared her points to 0 during the 2 remaining legs, allowing her to redeem her stand to 2-1 and paving her way to qualify for the finals.

Commencing the final round, the SEA Tigers Xarisse Pidor opened strong, with her first three throws putting them with a good start as they cleared 80 points and left Monteguado trailing with 253 points. 

SEA Tigers’ Pidor continued to attack with her sharp series of throws 22-57-41, putting SON Panthers’ Monteguado under more pressure and pressing her with 101 points to clear in the fourth turn of throws, managing only 10 points during the seventh throw. 

But Monteguado refused to falter, striking back throws of 22-45-14 points starting in the eighth throw, making both players neck-and-neck with just 2 points left to seal with a double 1.

After tense banter of throws, Monteguado finally clinched the win in the first leg of the final round after multiple tries of aiming for the double 1.

Determined to fight back in the second leg of the final round, Monteguado finally shut down Pidor in just 6 turns of throws, overpowering her after clearing 74 points, followed by 83-45-69-10.

Leaving her with just 10-finish, the final strike of double 5 was a triumph for the SON Panthers Monteguado—defending their title from last year’s win.

SON Panthers’ Monteguado shared that despite the frustration she had with clearing the 2 finish with double 1’s, the title to defend reminded her to keep precision despite the pressure.

“Ang frustrating for me is ang last part, kasi throughout the matches played, puro double 1 ang naiwan sa akin…The thought that came to my mind when I played was that kailangan ko to i-win kasi champions ang nursing last year,” she revealed.

She also admitted that despite the accuracy and determination she possessed while in the game, she was not able to devote time to practicing her throws as she was occupied with her program’s demanding academic schedule.

“I’m busy with other sports and meron din akong volleyball na gina-prioritize, and si darts—parang sideline lang siya for me…never din ako naka-practice for it kasi busy sa case presentation kaya ‘yun,” she added.

The SEA Tigers secured the second spot, and the ACC Griffins at third, after beating the B&M Vipers.

The dart women’s category was held at 4F Martin Hall, Ateneo de Davao University, on September 28