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What a thrill to be at the BullShooter XVIII World Championships over Memorial Day weekend
May 22-26, 2003 at the beautiful Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Chicago.
One doesn’t usually associate darts with the Hyatt Regency, but it’s the home of the BullShooter World Championships. Players come from all over the World having qualified through Regional BullShooter events or through their local BullShooter leagues.
The long weekend started out wth The Monsters Of The Midway 4-person team warm-up event. If this was just a warm-up, the tournament had to be fantastic as the competition was plentiful and fierce. The team of Ray Carver, John Kuczynski, Darin Young and Mick Manning were gunning for their third straight title and once again walked off with the top prize in the Men’s 4-Person A Team event. They vowed to remain the team to beat in future BullShooter World Championships, at least until dethrowned.
One of the most exciting events of the tournament, a least for me as a spectator, was the
Friday Top Gun Men’s and Women’s singles and Mixed Triples.
This event is where the Best of the Best are determined, no qualifying card required, best 3 of 5, single elimination Cricket. You go down, you’re out! For the men, Darin Young and Bob Haft defeated all comers and ended up in the Bull Pen to fight for the right to be Top Gun. Young shot down Haft in a tough battle to take to honors. For the women, Stacy Bromberg faced Paula Murphy in the final in the Bull Pen. Bromberg secured the title and the $2,000 first place cash.
Bromberg and Young proved they truly were Top Guns as they teamed with Michael Bates and
went on the captured the Top Gun Mixed Triples title and another $2,100.
What’s most fun about the BullShooter World Championships is that there are events for
everyone.
Events include Pro or A player events for both men and women, B player events, International events, and just plain fun events like the Pajama Shootout in the Bull Pen where women shoot in their pajamas for extra cash. Not only did Dawn O’Malley and Terri Bade win the event, they also were determined to be the best dressed pajama pair in the competition with matching pajamas.
When all the events were concluded and the records tallied, two players stood tall over all
others. John Kucznski and Teenamarie Cunningham had racked up impressive lists of victories making them the Most Valueable Players of the tournament.
This was the second year in a row for Cunningham to earn this coverted title. Each received an MVP BullShooter World Championship ring.
INTERNATIONAL
BULLSHOOTER WORLD CUP CHALLENGE
Eight Nations entered the
International BullShooter World Cup this year and they included Belgium, China, Croatia, Germany, Holland, Norway, Spain and the USA.
Each country wore their national shirts so all could tell what team they belonged to.
The opening ceremony invited each team to enter the tournament hall to their national anthym
while the crowd cheered them as they stepped to the stage to receive their competition BullShooter International Cup medal. What a sight and what a
feeling. For these players, it was the Olympics of darts!
The teams were drawn into two competitive brackets where round robin play commensed.
Winners advanced according to the rules and competed in a final single elimination bracket to determine which team would become the BullShooter International World Champions. The USA faced Spain in the final and took home the International title in three straight games, never giving Spain a chance. This is the second year in a row for the USA team of Scott Kirchner, Darin Young Ray Carver and Wendy Wermerskirchen to take the title.
RULES
Best two Nations of each group will advance to the next round.
The best Nation of Group A will play the second best nation of Group B.
The best Nation of Group B will play the second best Nation of Group A.
Winners will play 3 out of 5 games for first and second place.
Losers will play for third and fourth.
Click here to view 2003 Bullshooter XVIII World Championship results...
Also included in our September/October 2003 print edition ONLY, you
will find more than 28 photos of event winners and participants in this year’s Bullshooter XVIII World Championship event (Pages 31 - 36).
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