Bermuda’s pickleball contingent produced a sparkling, medal-laden campaign at the Jamaica International Pickleball Open in Kingston, sweeping podiums across open, age-group, and prize money divisions.
Leading the charge was veteran multisport athlete Gavin Manders, who orchestrated a masterclass on the Jamaican courts to walk away with four gold medals and a bronze. Manders was virtually untouchable in the masters brackets, sealing a clean sweep in the Men’s 40+ Singles, Men’s 40+ Doubles, and Mixed 40+ Doubles.
He then carried that imperious form into the Open Division, capturing Men’s Open Doubles gold alongside Benjamin Jones and taking bronze in the Mixed Doubles Open. A run to the quarter-finals in the lucrative Men’s Prize Pool Doubles rounded out a grueling yet triumphant tournament.
Jones proved equally formidable throughout the weekend, compiling an astonishing six-medal haul. Alongside his Men’s Open Doubles triumph with Manders, Jones secured a pair of golds in the Men’s Open Singles and Men’s Prize Doubles.
He pushed for clean sweeps across the board, picking up a bronze in Men’s Prize Singles and fighting through to two hard-earned silver medals in both the Mixed Open Doubles and Mixed Prize Doubles.
Patricia Mills showcased her trademark consistency, securing four podium finishes despite a grueling schedule across singles and doubles. Mills picked up silver medals in the Women’s Doubles Open, Mixed Doubles Open, and Mixed Doubles Prize brackets.
She narrowly missed out on adding further hardware to her collection in the individual and prize events; after battling through to the semi-finals, she finished fourth in the Women’s Doubles Prize and was unfortunate to miss the podium in the Women’s Singles Prize after being forced to forfeit her bronze-medal match.
Mical Russell completed the Bermudian contingent, gaining vital international tournament mileage. Russell reached the quarter-finals of the Men’s Open Doubles and the round of 16 in the Mixed Open Doubles, while also testing himself against elite competition in the group stages of both the Men’s Prize Doubles and Mixed Open Prize events.
Lily Hallett and Naphisa Smith added further depth and grit to the island’s campaign across the open and prize-money brackets.
Hallett enjoyed an exceptionally fruitful tournament, highlighted by a silver-medal display in the Women’s Doubles Open. Displaying sharp court awareness and composure at the net, she navigated the knockout rounds to secure a coveted podium finish.
She came agonisingly close to claiming a second piece of silverware in the Women’s Doubles Prize event, battling her way through to the semi-finals before finishing fourth overall. Hallett maintained that competitive edge across both mixed events as well, reaching the quarter-finals in both the Mixed Doubles Open and Mixed Doubles Prize competitions to cap off a demanding, multi-discipline weekend.
Smith undertook an equally grueling schedule, featuring across singles, doubles, and mixed brackets. Her standout showing came in the Singles Open, where she fought through to the medal rounds, narrowly missing out on the rostrum with a hard-earned fourth-place finish.
In mixed competition, Smith combined resilience and power to push into the quarter-finals of the Mixed Open. Testing herself against seasoned regional opposition, she gained vital top-flight tournament mileage in the group stages of the Singles Prize, Women’s Open, Women’s Prize, and Mixed Prize events.
The commanding collective performance marks another milestone for the island's burgeoning pickleball scene, underscoring Bermuda’s growing pedigree and punch on the regional stage.
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