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 MEDALIST –
The Difference in Darts
Wednesday, July 16, was the day the 2003 Medalist World Championships (Worlds) began in the Royale Pavillion at
the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Over 1,500 different players participated in the Worlds winning
nearly $400,000, all events combined. A large contingent of more than 200 players came from Japan, but Canada, Mexico, Thailand and
the USA participated as well.
The Royale Pavillion reverberated with cheers and applause at the completion
of the opening ceremony. As nearly 500 teams of eager competitors retrieved their match assignments and made their way to their assigned
boards, the air was super charged in anticipation of the coming day’s competition. And rightly so, with over $100,000 in prize money at stake on
the very first day of this $400,000 mega tournament. Unlike most visitors to Las Vegas, there were definitely some big winners before it was all over… guaranteed!
In keeping with their Aim For Excellence theme, Medalist event organizers
deserve special recognition for truly putting on a grand show in the Royale Pavillion transforming its palatial spaces into a world-class tournament, from
the lighting, floor plan, trophy display, to the music pumped in over the sound system.
RIVIERA BRING DOUBLES
Getting the most out of their Medalist World Championship experience in
2003 is what Medalist is all about. The tournament was designed with 4 major events, one each day. Players had to pre-register for each of the 4
major events prior to their arrival at the Medalist World Championships. There was no registering one the day of the event, if they had not
preregistered. These included doubles cricket, singles -01, doubles medley (-01, cricket, choice) and doubles cricket, 501, cricket. Each event featured 6
different levels of competition in which players/teams could enter based on their combined Medalist ratings. These skill levels are called Flights and
included AA, A, BB, B, CC and C Flights.
In addition to the major events, each evening featured a Riviera Bring doubles
event. All players had the opportunity to compete in doubles events where they signed up on the day. Entries were not tied to the teams nor the
teammates that players were, and/or rostered within The Medalist League. Players had total freedom to construct new teams for each of Riviera Bring
doubles events. Entry fee was $20 per player per event. Registration for the Riviera Brings ended one hour before the commencement of the event.
The Pit and the Trophies
This is the place where each player wanted to reach. It’s the place where the
players/teams compete for the championship of that particular event. The finalists are treated to a royal welcome to The Pit, escorted through the
crowd to the music of Rocky. Champaign, trophies and the most money await the victors who win in The Pit!
A New Voice at Medalist – Steve Montgomery
Joining Butch Martin on stage as the ‘voice’ of the Medalist Worlds this year
was Steve Montgomery, VP of Marketing and Promotion. He and his lovely wife, Debbie, look forward to their efforts with Medalist Games. Montgomery,
Master of Ceremonies, kept players on their toes, espcially when match cards “are gathering a bit of dust in the trees.”
“I am amazed at the overall organization of the tournament this year and how
well the players advanced through their rounds on the first day,” said Montgomery. “I’m involved with Hydroplane boat racing on ESPN2 and we
sometimes have trouble organizing 10 boats, let alone 500 teams.”
The Ultimate World Championship
In the final Championship Match of the 2003 Medalist World Championships
Tournament in Las Vegas, Colin Sim and Erwin Soria from Honolulu wrapped up the Saturday night AA Doubles title. A few minutes earlier, Derek Smith
and Ed Sekaquaptewa of Phoenix had secured the A Doubles crown in the Championship Pit area of the spectacular tournament setting in the Riviera
Hotel and Casino’s Royale Pavilion.
As they picked up the last of the 368 championship trophies, which had been
presented since the Medalist Worlds began play on Wednesday morning, they headed to the prize money window to pick up the last championship
-sized payday in the $400,000 prize pool.
With the 50+ Medalist staffers who had staged and run the huge event
already beginning the monstrous task of loading 200 Dart Star Spectrum Dart Boards and 2 semi loads of support equipment for the trip home to Seattle, it
was time to accept the fact that the event, which Medalist President Lee Peppard called, “The best in our 11 years of staging the World
Championships,” was coming to an end.
For the dozen or so Japanese players relaxing in the stairway leading from
the lobby to the Skyboxes, which had provided spectacular viewing and hospitality areas for the tournament, it appeared to be a sad time. They had
come to America some 200 strong, and had done the best of any Japanese contingent ever, taking home a Championship and two second place trophies.
Their presence had made the event multi-lingual, with all announcements made in English and Japanese. Their exuberance and enthusiasm had
helped make the event very special.
Now, it was ending and it would be time to head home. Slowly and
reluctantly, they rose and headed out of the lobby, glancing back at the ballroom, which the Medalist staff had turned into the biggest, most luxurious
dart location on the planet for four magical days in July.
With temperatures outside the comfort of the Riviera flirting with 110 degrees,
1936 participants from Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Japan and the USA had totaled over 4000 entries during the tournament’s four day run.
Peppard proudly called his company’s 11th Annual World Championships,
“The ultimate in staging, presentation and operation.” Players, observers and visitors all agreed. Peppard was especially pleased with the fact that, “Our
staff did such a great job of presenting this event, I was able to spend the whole week with our regional people, operators, distributors and location
owners. They made it a very productive week for me and the company.”
Peppard added that he was very pleased with the “tremendous operator
enthusiasm” he experienced during meetings held in conjunction with the event, and was very excited by what he called the “collective belief that it is
the time for a regrowth of darts in the US as well as expansion in other countries.”
Medalist Asian Connection – Tamiko Okawa
Peppard opened the week’s festivities by hosting 330 operators, distributors
and locations, including 60 from Japan, at the annual Medalist Awards Dinner at the Top Of The Riv. At the event, he introduced Tamiko (Tami) Okawa
who is moving from Dart World Co, Ltd, distributors of Medalist product in Japan, to become President of Medalist USA/Asia. In her new role, she will
manage the Medalist presence in Japan and oversee the company’s expanding marketing and promotional effort throughout Asia.
Okawa was one of the ‘voices’ at this year’s Medalist World Championship
and provided the necessary translations for all the communication needs to the Japanese contingent of 200 plus players at the Worlds. She was on
hand to help folks who needed assistance with registration, board assignments and the Japanese language.
Prior to her involvement with the dart industry, Okawa earned a Masters
Degree in Marketing and spent 12 years with New Zealand Air.
Medalist Asian Promotions – Paul Lim
Paul Lim is the Medalist Asian Promotional Representative and sends 2
weeks out of every month overseas in Asia, usually in Japan. Lim is promoting darts for Medalist in Japan primarily for beginners. Lim says, “The
growth of darts in Japan is phenomenal. Companies are forming in Japan to set up bars just for darts, much like pool halls and bowling alleys here in the
states.” Lim performs exhibitions in various venues in Japan and packs them in. Lim says that Japan can not hold amatuer tournaments for prize money
at the moment as it is against the law, but that may change very soon. In the mean time, the hype in Japan is that the Japanese players can come to
the Medalist Worlds because they can enter at their appropriate rating level
and compete for really good prize money. As a result, over 200 players have come over from Japan.
The players at the Medalist World Championship were thrilled to see Lim
competing along side them. Lim still contends that the rating system makes it very difficult to win, but is the fairest way to place everyone in levels of
competition of similar skill levels.
Click here to view 2003 Medalist Worlds event results...
Also included in our September/October 2003 print edition ONLY, you
will find more than 40 photos of event winners and participants in this year’s Medalist World Championship (Pages 54 - 61)
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