By MARK REY MONTEJO
Mae Orbeta displayed mental toughness to the max and outclassed her much-experienced rivals to give the Philippines its first-ever gold in the 2025 WDF World Cup at the Kintex 10A Hall in Goyang-si, South Korea Saturday, Sept. 27.
Orbeta, 20, toppled veteran Paula Murphy, 7-2, to capture the crown in the women’s singles event which featured some of the world’s elite darters.
Her title victory became even more impressive as Orbeta, a third year Marketing Management student at University of Caloocan City, beat Irina Armstrong, 6-2, in the semifinal an hour earlier.
Orbeta cleared her path on to the way to the finals with big wins against Japan’s Mikuru Suzuki (4-2), Slovakia’s Lucia Jankovská (4-0), and Scotland’s Sophie McKinlay (5-3).
Meanwhile, Filipino darters Alexis Toylo and Noel Malicdem settled for bronze in the men’s pairs category after falling short to Netherland’s Jimmy van Schie and Danny van Trijp, 5-1, in the semis.
Following their semis setback, Toylo and Malicdem collected the scalps of Sweden’s Johan Engström and Andreas Harrysson, 4-2, in the Last 16 before scoring a quarterfinal 4-2 victory over England’s Chas Barstow and Jarred Cole.
Toylo took part as well in men’s singles where he stumbled in the first round via a 4-2 loss to Canadian Jeff Smith.
Their compatriots Lourence Ilagan and Paolo Nebrida suffered an early exit after yielding to Japanese Ryusei Azemoto and Yuichiro Ogawa, 4-3, in the first round.
In the women’s team event, Orbeta Janice Hinojales, Aileen Oclarit, and Gisele Bulahao tried to reach the championship round but they ran out of gas and got beaten by Ireland, 9-3, in the semis to also get the bronze.
Before entering the semis, the Philippines bested Canada, 9-3, in the opener and blanked Switzerland, 9-0, in the quarters.
