It was another gorgeous Sunday morning for pickleball with maybe the only troublesome element being the wind. But, hey, we live in FL so what do you expect? Singles action at the King Kong Tournaments, that’s what!
We had 15 players signed up, including 2 women who said, “Bring it on!” And bring it they did! Two men came away perfect with only 4 points in the points differential separating who was the number 1 and 2 seeds. That nod went to Robert Kraft with a +23 to Paul Pfankuch’s +19. The battle for the 3 seed came down to two 3-1 teams with game 5 between Michael Ciarvarini and Al Sabogal being the deciding factor. In that game, Michael beat Al, 15-14 to give him the head to head win over Al to secure his spot. Al actually had a better point total and point differential but within the bracket, head to head win is the first tiebreaker. That leaves the best of the rest for the 4th and final seed and that came down in favor of Jeff Esbenshade, also with a 3-1 record, 59 total points and a +21 points differential. Al lost out again, having the same total points but a +15 points differential. Michael Kellough was in the hunt with 58 total points and a +14 points differential. Honorable mention goes to Karen Marlow (2-2) and Kathy Pals (1-3) for proving they could hang with the boys.
That setup a revenge playoff between Robert and Jeff in the first semis, where Robert beat Jeff, 15-14, in game 3. Robert, not taking any chances and gave himself a little more breathing room and won 15-10 in their matchup. In the other semis, Paul did his best impression of Tom Musone to score a 15-8 victory over a very game Michael.
That setup the Gold-Silver game between the last 2 unbeatens where Paul’s variety of shots was able to put away Robert, 15-9, for the Gold. Still, Robert had a sterling day to earn him his Silver. In the Bronze game, Jeff played a smooth game and earned his medal over Michael, 15-7.
Great job everyone and Kongrats to the medalists. Thanks once more to Chas Popplestone, Miriam Bernstein and Gavin Mason for volunteering to assist and to Moon Toomey for keeping the troops fed!
Up Next:
-Pickle N’ Poker Palooza, 12/20 (limited to 12 as could only secure 2 courts)
-Singles 3.5 and Under, 12/22
-No tournament 12/29
-MPL is coming for the remainder of the winter schedule
Here is the link to the photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBVaiB
Here is the link to the videos including the replay of the livestream and footage from the GoPro: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy0MUnaQ-KX9jma5IlgMaxvU1r3yzxb6-
Livestream:
- Intro (0:12:14)
- Game 1 (0:16:44): Al Sabogal v Perry Olson
- Game 2 (0:31:07): Mark Montgomery v Michael Ciaravini
- Game 3 (0:44:02): Perry Olson v Tim Cypher
- Game 4 (0:59:13): Michael Ciaravini v Perry Olson
- Game 5 (1:14:23): Perry Olson v Mark Montgomery Who’s In (1:29:08)
- Semis (1:30:52): Robert Kraft v Jeff Esbenshade
- Gold-Silver (1:42:02): Robert Kraft v Paul Pfankuch Medals (1:53:05)
GoPro
- Game 1 (0:00:00): Paul Pfankuch v Bill Harris
- Game 2 (0:0:9:11): Kathy Pals v Michael Kellough
- Game 3 (0:16:57): Paul Pfankuch v Kathy Pals (court 3, was supposed to be on 1)
- Game 3 (0:26:52): Bill Harris v Jim Alswager (court 1)
- Game 4: (0:35:38): Michael Kellough v Bill Harris
- Game 5 (0:45:22): Michael Kellough v Pauk Pfankuch (court 3, was supposed to be on 1)
- Game 5 (0:56:12): Bill Harris v Kathy Pals ( court 1) Semis (1:04:54): Michael Ciaravini v Paul Pfankuch
- Bronze (1:12:13): Jeff Esbenshade v Michael Ciaravini