THE Blair Mayne Wellbeing and Leisure Complex in Newtownards was the place to be for pickleball fans on the last weekend of April.
Project Pickleball NI and Ards Pickleball Club joined forces to host a professionally organised, multinational tournament that drew players from far and wide — including as far away as Texas, USA.
This landmark event featured 12 individual tournaments and welcomed 220 competitors of various nationalities. With almost all the top players from across Ireland taking part, it firmly cemented Ards’ position on the island’s growing circuit of elite pickleball venues.
Local players from Ards Pickleball Club made an impressive showing, reaching the semi-finals in nine of the 12 competitions and collecting a raft of medals in the process. Among the standout performers were teenage siblings Gracie and Harry Hamilton, serial gold medallists from the English Open, who won gold in every event they entered.
Gracie teamed up with Scotland’s Karen Crawford to claim the Women’s Doubles Open title, overcoming Cathy Skea and Thaila Rodrigues in the final. She then joined forces with her brother Harry to beat Hungarian player Beni Hajnal in the Mixed Doubles Open.
Harry also struck gold in the Men’s Doubles Open alongside Adrian Jiminez, defeating Bobby Fitzpatrick and Peter Stanka Lopez in the final.
There was further success for Ards players in the premier categories. Cathy Skea added a bronze in the mixed to her women’s silver, Hannah McAdam took bronze in the women’s and narrowly missed out on a place in the mixed final, while Jonathan Gibson and David Davies reached the semi-finals in the men’s event.
Ards competitors also impressed in the intermediate levels. Jake Clarke, just 12 years old and the youngest Ards entrant, teamed up with a friend from the south but narrowly missed the knockout rounds in the Men’s 3.0. Bailie and Glenn Cobane took silver in that category. Jim McAuley partnered with a Texan visitor to win silver in the Men’s 3.5. In the Women’s 3.0, Judith Patton and Wendy McCormick battled through to the semi-finals.
The Over-60s events brought even more glory to Ards. Simon Rogers and wife Helen struck gold in the mixed doubles, defeating Marian Mateer and Ray Hanna in the final. Stephen Campbell and Catherine Hunter picked up bronze in the same event, having edged Simon and Helen in the group stage.
Simon Rogers teamed up with Trevor Watty to win the Men’s Over-60s title after an unstoppable run, including a final win over Norman Maynes and Al Moore. Paul and Sylvia Clarke, recent Connacht gold medallists, dominated their group but were edged out in the knockout round. Bridget Nodder and Sheelagh Foy narrowly missed bronze in the women’s category, while Jim McAuley and Paul Clarke also just missed out in the men’s.
