For two days, Oceanside Place had a good dill going on.
Pickleballers were in abundance at the Howie Meeker rink, May 24-25, where they competed in this new and rapidly growing sport that is a cross between tennis, ping-pong and badminton. They were here for the Second Annual Oceanside Pickleball Tournament.
The event featured a full slate of avid, diehard and competitive pickleballers hailing from all over Vancouver Island that saw action in the men’s and ladies’ doubles, and mix doubles, round-robin format.
Tom Staite, president of the OPC Pickleball Club, which helped organize the event for the Regional District of Nanaimo was pleased to see so many participants this year.
“There were around 150 players from up and down the Island and of all ages from 8 years old to 50 and over. It was perfect,” said Staite. “They were all guaranteed eight games no matter what. So they all had a lot of playing time.”
The competition this year, Stait said, featured stiff competitions resulting in some close and exciting games.
“The quality of the competition was excellent. They are getting better all the time,” said Staite. “It was amazing.”
Topping the Men’s Doubles A Division was the tandem from the Comox Valley, Thomas Rauber and Clay Torseahl who bested Mike Seal and Bob Fish in the final. The third place duo were Bill Dumper and Piet Komen.
Lissy Rauber of Comox and Claudia McLean of Fuller Lake took home the gold in the Women’s Doubles A Division after surviving a tough final against Linda Hays of Parksville and Trudy Pitcher of Nanaimo, who had to play extra matches to reach the title round. The third place finishers were Debbie Simpson and Kerry Savory.
In the Mixed Doubles A Division, Bob Fish and Marilyn Moen beat Mark Lucier and Pauline Davidson with Ken Holman and Claudia McLean finishing in third place.
Other results were:
Men’s Doubles B Division: 1. Livio Tedesco and Ken Sander, 2. John Nichols and Chris Sadler, 3. Clive Jones and Peter Crook.
Men’s Doubles C Dvision: 1. Tom Sharpe and Ray Bradford; 2. Pat McPhallen and Werner Mollenhoff; 3. Tom Staite and Alex Gendron.
Women’s Doubles B Division: 1. Elizabeth Martin and Rosemary Nichol; 2. Debbie Morgan and Carolyne Pate; 3. Suzanne Sigurdson and Glenda Sharpe.
Women’s Doubles C Division: 1. Arlene Thorne and Krista Weir; 2. Marjorie McInnes and Phyllis Haski; 3. Teri Kielbiski and Kathy Clarkson.
Mixed Doubles B Division: 1. Arlene Thorne and Ray Bradford; 2. Tom Sharpe and Glend Sharpe; 3. Livio Tedesco and Susan Chretien.
Mixed Doubles C Division: 1. Rick Folk and Elizabeth Folk; 2. Brian Jenkins and Debbie Simpson; 3. Clive Jones and Brenda Stewart.