GALE SANTOS: DART PHENOMENON Like father, like son. We always say this phrase when we notice the similarities between a son and his father, especially when both of them have the same good looks, or excelled well in the same profession, or turned famous for something, or became great in the same sport. This phrase perfectly fits former national champion Gale Santos and his father, the late Edgardo “Boy” Santos, former president of the Philippine Darts Council, which is now called the Dart Council of the Philippines. The younger Santos became the toast of the local darting world and was regarded as the country’s best darter after winning the men’s singles crown of the Philippine Cup in 1995, while his father, who was more popularly known by his nickname of “Boy” or “Afiong,” was one of the top rated darters in the ‘80s and also the team manager of the celebrated Leatherex and Penelopee dart teams. Among the popular top darters who played for Boy’s two dart teams were former national champions Flor Aldon, Darren Liwanag , Ricky Castro and Jake Ubaldo, and Your’s Truly, Renato “Mao” Mauricio. Boy was one of the leading shoe manufacturers in Marikina and the major supplier of Parisian shoes in the country. He was popular and some kind of a “Godfather” in the local darting world and in his hometown because of his generosity and compassion. When a group of top local darters went to the USA in 1986 to play in the Los Angeles Open and the North American Open in Las Vegas, Boy was somehow affected as most of the darters who left and stayed in the USA for good were his favorite members of his teams and good friends as well. In 1989, Boy went to New Jersey to visit a friend. On his way back to Manila, he passed by California to meet with his darter-friends in Los Angeles. This writer, in his own small way of repaying the kindness and all the good things that Boy had done for the group in the past, produced a one night show at the popular Pinausukan restaurant in Gardena, California, with the former PDC president as the main performer. It was dubbed “Boy Santos, The Man and His Music.” Tickets were sold and the venue was almost filled up at its full capacity. We were all present that night, Flor Aldon, Jojo Malana, Knitz Tumaneng, Gi Santos and many more, and we were all awed by Boy’s golden voice as he belted out some of the famous love songs of Frank Sinatra, Matt Monroe and others. It was an unforgettable evening of music and fun as we all walked down memory lane, reminiscing our happy days in the sport of darts until the wee hours of the morning, before we bid Boy “adieu” or goodbye. Little did we know that it would be our last farewell to a very dear friend. Boy passed away on December 18, 2002, and it was the loneliest Christmas for Gale and family. Gale proudly called his father “tatay.” Gale was born on May 29, 1978 and the youngest in a family of three, with a girl, Penelopee as the eldest, and another boy, Marvin. Perla was their beloved mother. Now married to the former Corrie Victorino Yandoc, the couple’s first two children are two beautiful girls, Hilary and Daphine, before they were blessed with a very good-looking boy after seven long years. The unico hijo is now his namesake, Gale Calix Santos. Gale started his darting career in 1994 as a Class C player for Bonchelet team in the Metro Manila Darts League (MMDL). With his remarkable performance, he was recruited by Armand Diaz to play for El Tusuquero in Class O with Andrew Arrieta as the team captain, and Boy Sanchez and wife Grace as the team managers. In the 1995 Philippine Masters Cup in Cebu, then 17-year-old Gale surprised everybody when he defeated all his opponents in the elimination round and gained the “twice-to-beat” advantage in the finals after blanking Ricky Villanueva in their “playing for waiting” matchup. In the finals, however, Gale’s twice to beat edge went for naught as he lost to Villanueva. Thereafter, Gale was classified as a “rated” player for his impressive performance in the PhilMasters Cup and was expected to slug it out with other top players for the prestigious 1995 Philippine Cup slated before the end of the year. Determined to win a national title, he played in almost all other smaller events and spent longer hours of daily practice to keep his hand in good shape for the much-coveted national open held at the Manuela Star Mall in Mandaluyong City. As they say, determination and hardwork equal triumph, and this was Gale’s secret of success as he not only stamped his name in the history of the sport of darts in the country but also made his tatay and townmates very proud of him for winning the men’s singles crown of the Philippine Cup in 1995. Boy was at the tournament venue and probably teary with joy witnessing his son being elevated to stardom by winning the national title. For copping the national title and other big events at a very young age of 17, plus his awesome display of marksmanship in every game, Gale earned the moniker “Phenomenon.” He then went on to rule the Thailand Open in 1995 as he topped both the singles and doubles events (with Joseph Domanais as partner). He registered a grand slam victory as his team also copped the crown in the team competition. Gale also won the singles title and the doubles event crown with partner Arman Diaz for a back-to-back victory in the Hong Kong Open in 1997. For his feat, he was regarded as the No. 1 darter in Asia at the time. Gale led the RP team that placed top 10 in the overall standings for the World Cup ’95 in Basel, Switzerland. Among the members of the national team were Arman Diaz, Joseph Domanais and Angel Locsin. One of the most memorable moments and probably the best performance in his career came in the National Dart Circuit in Lucena City when he played against top rated Dixie Ybanez. Down 0-2 in the best of five finals, Gale scored five consecutive 180s in the last three games to edge his opponent by the score of 3-2, and win the top prize. In 1998, Gale, who was using a DMI 24-gram darts, suddenly stopped playing darts after settling down with his true love and focused more on his job to raise his own family. He made a big comeback in the sport after a decade as dart tourneys began to offer big cash prizes in 2008. He pocketed P100,000 for placing second to Arvee Briones in one of the richest dart events ever in the country. In February 2009, Gale got a job in the United Arab Emirates with the help of his long time friend, Gerry Flores of Amber. During the same year, he was able to win the men’s singles title of the Dubai Open and successfully defended it the following year. He also topped the Abu Dhabi Open in 2010. He participated in the Summer Dart Festival of the NDF last May 2014 using a new set of darts, Navigator 22 grams, and left the country in June and is now currently working in the United Arab Emirates. (Photo shows Gale Santos in action during a tournament. Other photos show former Philippine Darts Council president Edgardo “Boy” Santos standing behind his collection of dart trophies, and then eight-year-old Gale also standing in the same spot holding his favorite toy.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 08:49:21 +0000
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