Williams Lake was popping with the sounds of pickleball June 24 and 25.
The Battle of the Puddle pickleball tournament was held at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex hosted by the Williams Lake Pickleball Club and saw players facing off on four courts in Rink 2 both days.
On Saturday, 56 players played mixed doubles, playing eight games each starting at 9 a.m. The teams who played the semi-finals and finals rounds played an additional three games with things wrapping up around 3 p.m.
On Sunday, mens doubles and ladies doubles teams played.
“It was very good,” said Kevin Bourdon, the president of the local pickleball club.
Ages of players ranged from 13 to 75 and players hailed from 100 Mile House, Quesnel, Horsefly and Williams Lake, as well as a pair from Edmonton.
Bourdon said the tournament worked out well, and choosing to host it indoors worked out well, with the city staff doing a great job having the building ready to host.
“It’s well set up in there for four pickleball courts,” he said, noting though the weather was sunny over the weekend, it would have been extremely hot to be out playing in the sun all day.
“It’s just the social part of it is awesome,” he said, of all the visiting with both local and area players they were able to do.
Bourdon said medals went to players from every location and he was happy with the turnout.
“And they’re just going to get bigger,” he said, with the popularity of the sport.
The club will be hosting their next tournament in the fall, but it will likely be a local club tournament.
Some of the top teams listed on the results shown on the Williams Lake Pickleball page were:
Gold in ladies doubles 3.0: Jenylyn MacDonald and Elizabeth Sales
Gold in 3.0: Teresa and Mallory Mack
Gold in 3.5: Mary LeBlanc and Vivek Patel
Gold in ladies 3.5: Jamie Kohnke and Brenda Bourdon
Gold in mens doubles 3.5: Chetan Gulliya and Vivek Patel
Gold in mens doubles: Mallory Mack and Turner Christenson
READ MORE: Pickleball picking up for players as weather gets warmer
READ MORE: Williams Lake Pickleball Club hosts 28 players for local tournament
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