Long Island Pickleball Challenge Hits SPORTIME Hempstead Lake

The 2024 Long Island Tennis Magazine Summer Series continued with the Long Island Pickleball Challenge as doubles teams gathered together at SPORTIME Hempstead Lake on a beautiful Saturday morning to compete across three different divisions.

The day featured great pickleball action on the court with a fun and social vibe off the court, as players enjoyed catered breakfast and drinks which were available throughout the day. The divisions competed in round-robin play which led into the knockout rounds.

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In the Men’s Doubles 8.0-8.5 division, Brad Berger & Andy Rousseau used their experience playing together to win the title and earn the Gold Medal, defeating David Gabby & Alex Winston 15-4 in the finals.

“We played well, and just made fewer mistakes throughout the day,” said Rousseau. “We won Silver at the New York Open and Bronze at another event, and now we have added a Gold Medal to our name.”

Talking about the event as a whole, Berger said:

“Good people, good fun and good energy. The pickleball tournament series run by Long Island Tennis Magazine are always great, and it’s why we keep coming back.”

Gabby & Winston were the runners-up and earned the Silver Medal. In the third-place contest, Evan Seidenberg & Brandon Weinstein defeated Candrin Chris & Colin Liotta 15-5 to earn the Bronze.

For Katie Figgie & Lorraine O’Hanlan, teaming up together for the first time in a pickleball event proved to be a good decision. The pairing have competed together in other racquet sport events, and now have a Gold Medal in pickleball after they defeated Lisa Goldberg & Darlene Pergola 15-3 to win the Women’s Doubles 7.5-8.0 division.

“We made sure to have fun and stay loose,” said O’Hanlan. “Our strategy was adjusting to who we were playing against, finding their weaknesses and trying to take advantage when we could.”

Figgie added:

“This is our first time playing pickleball together and it was nice being able to find chemistry and adjust to each other’s games.”

Goldberg & Pergola won the Silver Medal as the finalists, while Emilie Katz & Abby Lerner won the Bronze Medal with a victory over Renee Lemmerman & Diann Starcke in the third-place match.

Andy Peeke & Tabasun Mir made sure to remain positive and encourage each other throughout the tournament and as a result were victorious in the Mixed Doubles 7.0-7.5 division. Peeke & Mir won the Gold Medal with a 15-9 victory over Ricky Becker & Julie Becker in the championship match.

“Being supportive to one another, understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses and sticking together,” Peeke said when asked what their key to victory was. “There was times when I was struggling in the semifinals and she told me, ‘come on, you got this’.”

Mir added:

“The key was just getting balls back and staying engaged throughout the day. Also, and I’m not joking, just listening to him and doing what he said on the court helped a lot.”

The pairing of Ira Rosmarin & Danielle Rosmarin won 15-12 over Richard Nessim & Elsia Cokkinos to earn the Bronze Medal.

“The entire tournament ran smoothly and featured great competition,” said LI Tennis Magazine Owner and co-tournament director David Sickmen. “As we continue our foray into the pickleball world, we have received great feedback from players and spectators which only motivates us more to use our platform and media apparatus to run pickleball events. Thank you to SPORTIME Hempstead Lake for their hospitality, and my co-tournament director Michelle Stoerback for helping us put on another professionally run event, and we are excited to host more tournaments throughout this year and into 2025.”

We would like to thank our event sponsors, including SassyLI who had pickleball bags and other accessories showcased throughout the day, Doterra for displaying its essential oils and offering raffles, iPlayMe2 for providing event software to display our tournament results, and Halftime Chiller and OSIM USA for giving out prizes to the tournament winners.

The next Long Island Pickleball Challenge will be held on Saturday, September 14 at SPORTIME Hempstead Lake.

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FINAL RESULTS

Men’s Doubles

Gold – Brad Berger & Andy Rousseau

Silver – David Gabby & Alex Winston

Bronze – Evan Seidenberg/Brandon Weinstein

Mixed Doubles

Gold – Andy Peeke/Tabasun Mir

Silver – Ricky Becker/Julie Becker

Bronze – Ira Rosmarin/Danielle Rosmarin

Women’s Doubles

Gold – Katie Figgie/Lorraine O’Hanlan

Silver – Lisa Goldber/Darlene Pergola

Bronze – Emilie Katz/Abby Lerner