The Central Region Darts League officially launched its 2026/27 season with a mix of ceremony and competitive action as 12 teams began their battle for regional honours.
The league has registered 188 players, with women accounting for 14 percent of the player pool, reflecting continued growth in participation across the Central Region.
The launch was graced by Chifundo Suzanne Mbejere, Regional Sports and Recreation Development Manager at the Malawi National Council of Sports, as Guest of Honour. The President of the Darts Association of Malawi also attended as an invited guest.
The event marked CRDL’s first competitive use of the new league format developed by the Darts Association of Malawi. The format had already been introduced by the Southern Region Darts League during its season launch a few weeks earlier and forms part of DAM’s efforts to standardise competitive play across the regional leagues.
Under the new structure, players feature in fewer matches on league day, with doubles and singles contests carrying greater weight.
Malawi National Darts Team captain Rodgers Zako said the format demands immediate focus and leaves players with little room to recover from a poor start.
“In the previous format, you could lose your first two individual games and still recover to finish the match 4–2. Now, you play one doubles match and one singles match. If you lose both, that is it,” Zako said.
He added that the inclusion of doubles brings domestic league competition closer to the experience Malawi’s players encountered at the WDF Africa events in Kenya.
CRDL Chairperson Amon Chinyophiro acknowledged that the league has started the season without a sponsor but said efforts were underway to secure a partner.
He said the league’s progress in governance, organisation and player growth presents a strong opportunity for companies and individuals in the corporate sector to invest in the sport and benefit from its expanding reach.
With the formalities concluded and the first darts thrown, the launch set the stage for what promises to be a closely contested CRDL campaign.