Bermudian pickleball players faced stiff competition at the Humana APP Fort Lauderdale Open, with mixed results in various Age Divisions.
Sue Chiappa and Sarah Fox competed in the Women's Doubles UTR-P 4.5: 65+ Division, but unfortunately endured a challenging tournament, finishing with a 0-4 record. They faced tough opposition, falling to several American pairs, including Michelle Foster and Susan Henderson (15-7), Holly Hancock and Jeannie Kirby (15-7), Christine Ford and Maria Ramos (15-2), and Robin Crider and Dahlia Hirsch (15-3).
In the Senior Men's Doubles 65+: UTR-P Division, Danny Fox and Michael J Burns battled hard, securing one victory in their six matches.
They started strongly with a 15-10 win over American duo Charlie Muller and Ron Schwenk. However, they then faced a series of defeats, falling to Milan Kolundzija and Bob Gries (15-12), Abe Grohman and Ed Holofcener (15-4), Edward Rieman and Kevin McCarthy (15-7), Victor Espinosa and Patrick McAllister (15-2), and Ron Cortese and James Gerson (15-2).
Fox and Burns did not medal in doubles, but they did get a Golden Ticket as they defeated teams in their level. If entries are low then players end up being put in a combined bracket which was interesting as some of the teams had 6.0 levels.
Despite the challenging results, the Bermudian players gained valuable experience competing against a high level of competition at the Humana APP Fort Lauderdale Open. They will be looking to learn from these matches and continue to develop their skills in future tournaments.
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