VIVEKANAND DYAL, captain of the Trinidad and Tobago national team and one of the region's most respected darts players, is the new champion of the Carib Beer Caribbean and South American Masters.

Dyal, more familiarly known as "Rabbit", defeated Barbados' Anthony Forde in a pulsating final at Sherbourne Conference Centre on Tuesday evening.

He earned the right to travel to England in December to try to qualify for the Professional Darts Corporation's World Championships. He will share the same stage as the 32 top professional darts players in the world competing for a first prize of £100 000.

This year's event attracted the best quality field in its four-year history with the quarter-finals featuring probably the best eight darts players in the region. Of the four semi-finalists, three were previous winners and Dyal was a Caribbean champion and losing semi-finalist last year.

In the first semi-final, defending champ Winston Cadogan of Barbados took on Dyal, but the Trinidadian soon stamped his authority on the match.

With some clinical darts, he took the first set 3-0 and the second 3-1 to earn his place in the final.

In the other semi-final, 2004 champion Forde took on the 2003 winner, Norman Madhoo from Guyana.

This was a much closer contest with the result in doubt right up to the wire. Forde took the first set 3-2, but Madhoo cruised through the second set to take it 3-0. In the deciding set, the outcome was always going to depend on who held their nerve and, to the rapturous delight of an excited audience, it was home boy Forde who claimed the match by taking the deciding set 3-2.

In the final the crowd responded noisily as Forde hit a maximum 180 with his first three darts, earning the chance to take the first game of the first set.

But Dyal fought back and took Games 2 and 3, only for Forde to level proceedings at two games all. Both players were hitting some very impressive scores but it was Dyal who took the deciding game of the set with a seventeen dart finish.

In the second set, Dyal raced into a 2-0 lead with some stunning marksmanship. But, to his credit, Forde dug deep to level the set at two games all, and this brought the crowd to the edge of their seat.

In the deciding game Dyal was irresistible. The Trinidadian began with a maximum 180, then scored 60, then 140 and then 65. This left him with 56 to finish. Stepping up to the oche, "Rabbit" hit 16 with his first dart to leave himself with double top to take the match.

He missed with his first dart but the second was on target to give him a 15 dart finish to claim the title – much to the raucous delight of the large Trinidadian contingent in the crowd.

Dyal will now have the opportunity to go to England to take part in the qualifying rounds of the World Championships on December 2.

All his expenses will be paid for by The Professional Darts Corporation and if he maintains this kind of form he could be playing against the top 32 professionals in the world at the end of December, in front of 1 000 noisy spectators and a global TV audience of millions. (PR)