Phil Taylor of soft-tip darts

What Phil Taylor is for steel darts, Mensur Suljovic represents in soft-tip. Arguably world's No. 1 in electronic darting, who has five EDU European Championship titles under his belt to go along with many other World and European trophies, built a reputation of unbeatable in soft-tip darts. Mensur even beat Phil Taylor 3-1 in an exhibition match in Geiselwind near Würzburg on November 25th, 2006.

We had a chance to talk with Mensur this January at Italian Championship for Teams in Bolzano where he and his close friend Jose Luis Rodriguez, also one of the world's best soft-tip darters, played exhibition matches.
When have you started to play darts?

At the end of 1993 I've moved from Novi Pazar to Wienna. My brother owns a cafe there and that's the place where I have discovered the game of darts. At the beginning I played for a drink with guests, but soon people realized that I'm good at it and persuaded me to start to play for Austrian Federation. Soon I have founded a club that was called PM, the same as my brothers cafe, and it started from there.

What was your first big success?

In 1999 I became European Champion in Linz for the first time. It was a big surprise for me because I haven't even dreamed that it could happen. That same year I won World Championship in Kalkar, Germany.

What was your most successful major darts event? 

Definitely European Championship in Riccione, Italy in 2000 where I have won six titles altogether.

What is your favorite title? 

It's 2001 edition of Master of Masters in Kalkar where I won among 128 best players of that time. I remember that we had to pay 1.500 Deutsche Marks for participation, which was a big money. But it payed off for me because award for the first place was 15.000 DM.
At that time Mensur was at the peak of his game. In December 2001 he made his way through qualifications for Winmau and beat Martin Adams (recent winner of Lakeside) 2-0 in eight-finals, but later was stopped by Raymond van Barneveld (1-3). Fifth place at Winmau is all-time best for soft-tip players.
Month and a half later Mensur participated at Embassy 2002 (BDO World Championship today known as Lakeside) where he advanced among best 16 players after beating Vincent Van Der Voort. He was stopped by Mervyn King who later advanced all the way to the finals where he lost to Tony David.

What is the main reason that you have come to the top so fast?

Talent obviously, but even more important are hours and hours of training. At that time I spent five or six hours a day practicing and it was never hard for me to do. I never felt boring while playing darts, no matter if I was winning or loosing, it was only important to practice and compete at the tournaments.
After winning titles in Linz and Riccione, Suljovic couldn't participate at European Championships 2001 in Porec, Croatia, and 2002 in St. Johann, Austria. Once when he was allowed to compete again, he won three titles in a row, 2003 in Tarragona, Spain, 2004 in Hamburg, Germany and 2005 in Sopron, Hungary.
This unbelievable run came to an end at EC in Umag last year where Suljovic ended in 17th place, although he became European Championship in doubles with his compatriot and longtime partner Mirsad Metovic, finished as a runner up to Dietmar Burger in Cricket and won two Open tournaments (Split Score, Triple Mix).

How much do you practice today? 

Three to four hours a day. When I started to play darts it was much longer, but I was in a much better condition then because I also played indoor soccer and basketball. Now I'm older, my legs are getting tired fast and I don't have the same determination as I used to have when I was younger. Plus, I'm working in a cafe and I don't have much time to practice.

What is the main difference between you and an average player who also practices 3-4 hours a day? 

In a method of training. If you come to your club and just play with your friends, it is not the same as to work alone on improving your game in the areas where the improvement is most needed. I always practice alone trying to correct mistakes that I made in the last competition. If I couldn't keep concentration then I try to improve my physical condition, if I had problems with hitting doubles I work on that, etc.

What is your advice for a young players? 

 It is easy for a young player to get on top, but it is extremely hard to stay there. When I started to play I progressed very fast and came to a point where I could beat best players in Wienna at that time. But I couldn't do it constantly, I would have won one match out of ten against best players. Then I started to go on every tournament that I could and to analyze what best players do, how do they concentrate, play and practice. It was a great school for me. So, my advice is to spend a lot of time on practice, be patient and learn from the best players. Eventually, it will pay off.

Great basketball talent
Mensur was born on March 5th, 1972 in a little town called Tutin near Novi Pazar in Sandzak. It is area between Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo which was first exposed to oppression and Serbian police raids, then group killings during the war in former Yugoslavia (1992-95). As a result some 60.000-80.000 Bosniaks emigrated from the region during this period, and Mensur was among them.
Sandzak is also known as an area where people a very tall, so it is no wonder that some great basketball players such as Vlade Divac, Hidayet Turkoglu and Mirsad Turkcan, all of whom played in the NBA, origin from Sandzak.
Mensur, who is 192 cm tall, also was a great basketball talent. In 1992 he was at trials in Istanbul with Efes Pilsen, one of the top European clubs which one year before that acquired Turkcan. But Mensur didn'm make the team. 

 I wasn't accepted well in Efes, my teammates simply didn't want to give me the ball. Soon, I quit and returned to Novi Pazar. I felt sorry for that because I knew that I could compete with them, but I wasn't given a chance.

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Images for Interview with Mensur Suljovic