She won the Philippines Open, qualified for the World Championships and was due to make her debut at Lakeside. But when she applied for a visa, she was told she would not be granted one.
The 22-year-old Filipino darts player Lovely-Mae ‘Bebang’ Orbeta has withdrawn from the WDF Women’s World Championship after her visa application was rejected.
No reason has been given as to why she was refused a visa.
Orbeta was due to face American Cali West in the first round. The winner was set to go on to face the reigning world champion, Deta Hedman. Her place has now gone to New Zealand’s Desi Mercer.
The World Championship is being held at Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green from 27 November, a venue many refer to as the home of darts.
Orbeta is no ordinary player. She is the reigning women’s singles world champion in the WDF World Cup, which she won in South Korea last year – the Philippines’ first-ever gold medal in the championship. This summer, she won both the Malaysian Open and the Philippines Open. It was the latter – a 5–3 victory over Japan’s Kosuzu Iwao in the final – that secured her place at the World Championships.
A world-class athlete is thus being denied entry to the UK.
Others have it easier. So far this year, nearly 22,000 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats, without visas or documents. Last year, the figure was over 41,000. Around 95 per cent of them apply for asylum as soon as they reach land.
Many of them end up in hotels, with board and lodging paid for by British taxpayers. In June, over 16,000 asylum seekers were staying in 160 hotels across the country, and in total over 69,000 were in temporary accommodation provided by the Home Office. At the height of the crisis in the summer of 2023, over 400 hotels were in use, and the bill ran to nearly 9 million pounds a day.
Orbeta is studying at university in Manila, alongside his darts career, and has a spotless record.
