COMMUNITY: I.C. dart tournament a success

By Alexandria Daugherty, community contributor

IOWA CITY - Brent Paulsen of Iowa City won the first Iowa City Darts Open championship.

The 128-man field was narrowed down over four weeks of competition across local locations in Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty. The popular game of “Cricket” was played for the entire event in a double elimination format.

Paulsen, 24, lost his third round match to eventual fifth-place finisher Ryan Redrah, but rallied by winning 12 straight matches - including two straight against second-place finisher Paul Crescent of Coralville.

Paulsen shot a remarkable (to those familiar with the sport) 4.1 marks per round in the championship match.

He was modest in victory.

“Darts is a game where everyone is looking to have a good time and that I think, and hope, we all did,” he said. “I would just like to thank everyone who helped make this such a wonderful event. During the past four weeks I got to meet a lot of new and friendly ... competitors.”

Event director Dr. Paul Fischer was very pleased by the turnout, but even more so by the friendly and enthusiastic crowd. Fischer, with the help of six local establishments, helped run the event free of charge.

Local business owners also were so pleased with the event they are looking for more tournaments in the future.

“Everyone kept coming up to me during the event begging me to make this happen more than once a year,” Fischer said. “It was very nice and encouraging, but I just wanted to make sure this event finished smoothly.”

The rules for joining the ICDO are not very strict. The tournaments are open to anyone who can play the dates required. Any person, group or establishment, interested in joining the next ICDO are encouraged to email IowaCityDartsOpen@gmail.com.