Holy moly! What an incredible day of pickleball for the final week of the Men’s Winter Cup. The start of the day did not look promising at all with a light shower rolling in just before 9a but luckily (?) the winds came and blew the remaining moisture away, including drying out the court. But with all things good, there were some downsides and wind is not the friend of the pickleball!
Regardless, the sun was out and so were the guns as the 6 teams battled it out. It went right down to the wire with 3 teams still in it after 4 matches and it came down to 2 teams in the final game of the 5th match. In the end, it was Team Jim Williams eeking out the victory with 20 wins and 287 pts over Team Michael Poirier with 20 wins and 286 pts. Damn!
In the finals, it proved to be the day for the fresher team and Team Lowballerz swept a tired but game Team Jim Williams.
Kongratulations Team Lowballerz and runner-up Team Jim Williams, and all the other teams for putting on the greatest show in The Villages. Thanks again to our volunteers Dan Ryan, Tony Chiravolo and Chas Popplestone for keeping track of all the matches, and also to all the fans that came to watch.
Next up: The Men’s 3.0 Doubles on Feb 4 (rained out in Dec).
Here’s the link for the photos. Enjoy!
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBcomY
Here are the links for the videos I managed to record. Unfortunately, there was an equipment malfunction at Match 3 Game 2 so I wasn’t able to get all the games recorded.
[links of what was captured to be added]
W2 M1G1 Court 4 Team Poirier v Team Williams
https://gopro.com/v/wbR5o6ZMP3pVP
W2 M1G2 Court 1 Team Faggiana v Kindergarten Kids
https://gopro.com/v/NNGpX7rXk9mbo
W2 M2G1 Court 6 Biergarten v Team Poirier
https://gopro.com/v/nqdRlgKlZlgNa
W2 M2G2 Court 7 Team Schlessel v Kindergarten Kids
https://gopro.com/v/aoNQ4w9ooXEVQ
W2 M3G1 Court 5 Team Poirier v Team Faggianna (battery died at 8-8-1)
https://gopro.com/v/ymyJ3X92aJm6R
W2 M3G2 Court 1 Kindergarten Kids v Biergarten (equipment trouble and stopped recording at 4-0-1)
https://gopro.com/v/bqyEr4arQEknX
No footage for the remaining regulation games as I could get the GoPro to stay on.
The finals were recorded using my iPhone.
Finals G1 and 2 C7
https://gopro.com/v/q6ROWy6b4L2zy
(recording for G2 started late as I was at the other end of the courts – picked up at 4-1-2)