AMERICAN DARTS ORGANIZATION Incorporated 1975

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World Cup, World Rankings, Television

August 7, 2001

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ADO NAMES WORLD CUP TEAM
Fifty-Five Players World-Ranked; Nickelodeon Features Youth Players

Anaheim, Calif. Two date changes that resulted in a date conflict with another major tournament and ADO U.S. Team playoffs took their toll on players who had to choose between those important events. Couple that with close point races and last-minute tournament reports, and it explains why it took a full 30 days to resolve who would represent the U.S.A. at World Cup in Malaysia.
Based on the ADO formula, two men and one woman from the last U.S. Team playoff plus two men and one woman with the best 12 tournament event finishes would be the chosen six. Alternates were set to come from those with the next-best point finishes. As it turned out, none of those who won the trip in the last playoff are able to make the trip. Using the formula, this year's team would have been: Tim Grossman, Dan Lauby, Roger Carter, Luis Martinez, Carolyn Mars and Stacy Bromberg. But the six who will make the trip are: Martinez, Paul Lim, Steve Brown, John Kuczynski, Marilyn Popp and Julie Nicoll. It is a tribute to the depth of quality dart players in this country that such a strong team will be fielded despite unavoidable scheduling difficulties this year.
Martinez, Kuczynski and Nicoll are making their first appearance as players in World Cup, though Nicoll captained the women's team that brought home the gold from Perth in 1997. And Martinez has represented the U.S. at the Winmau World Masters for the past two years. It will be Kuczynski's first international appearance for the ADO. Popp, Lim and Brown were most recently members of the World Cup team that traveled to Durban, South Africa in 1999. Team managers will be Marshall Popp and Della Fleetwood.
The group will compete on Sept. 27-29 in Kuala Lumpur and every ADO member can rest assured that this group will strive to bring home the gold.
World Ranking Numbers on the Rise
A total of 55 ADO players have earned World Darts Federation ranking points this year. The highest-ranking among men goes to Luis Martinez, who is ranked No. 29. Highest ranking among women goes to Stacy Bromberg and Carolyn Mars, who rank Nos. 10 and 12 respectively. The next ADO tournament that carries WDF ranking points is the Cleveland Extravaganza later this month, followed by Witch City--also an ADO anniversary road show tournament-in November. Players can check their WDF points on the Web at www.dartswdf.com.
Cable Channel Nickelodeon to Feature Youth Darts
Florida-based Nickelodeon, part of the MTV family of cable channels, will air a short segment featuring youth darts on its youth sports show sometime this fall. Channel representatives contacted the ADO for video clips and still shots of ADO youth participants for the segment. One of the featured players will be Yakima, Wash. native Kevin Luke, a two-time youth champion.
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