Doubles Teams Come Out for President’s Week Pickleball Classic
Long Island Tennis Magazine hosted the first President’s Week Pickleball Classic on the courts of Sportime Kings Park. A sold-out draw of doubles teams came together to compete across four different divisions.
The energy was high as teams competed in round-robin play which led into the knockout rounds. The format ensured all teams were able to get an array of matches against a multitude of opponents. The atmosphere was great as spectators filled the deck above the courts to watch the action, all the while, players and spectators enjoyed the tournament amenities, which included pizza, margaritas, snacks and more.
“The entire tournament ran smoothly and featured great competition,” said LI Tennis Magazine Owner David Sickmen. “We have received great feedback from players and spectators. We would like to thank Sportime Kings Park for their hospitality, and my co-tournament director Michelle Stoerback for helping us put on another professionally run event. We’re excited to continue our pickleball event series throughout 2024.”
In the Women’s 3.5 division, Rose Gardner & Jennifer Walsh used their chemistry together to come away with the title, defeating Mari Rose Fusco & Shavawn Lockhart in the championship.
“It was a great tournament, and the key to our success was knowing how each other move, and knowing what the plan was,” said Walsh.
Gardner jokingly added:
“Jen also brought me some (adult) drinks during the matches, which helped us a lot.”
Lisa Golderg & Darlene Pergola teamed up to win another LITM pickleball tournament as the pairing won the Women’s 4.0 division with a victory over Heidi Hothan & Jennifer McGraw in the finals.
“I’m enjoying being back on the court and competing with friends,” said Pergola, who was injured last year. “The key for Lisa and I is our communication and we trust each other, and Lisa is a beast.”
A key strategy for the pairing was simplifying the game and making sure they were not the ones committing the errors.
“We kept balls in play and tried to let our opponents make the errors,” Goldberg added. “We’re really good friends and work well together. We stacked today, which is something we don’t normally do, and it worked.”
Josh Henline & Carlos Quinonez were competing in their first tournament together, but found their footing together during the round-robin stages, and took that momentum into the playoffs as they won the Men’s 3.5 division, defeating Frank Frisone & Chris Biscuiti in the finals.
“You have to develop that chemistry and it took some matches to do that, but I think we understand each other well, where we are on the court and things like that,” said Quinonez. “There were some matches in the beginning where we were four or five points down, but we kept our cool and stayed composed.”
Henline added:
“I think we were consistent and kept our unforced errors down. We were patient and just tried to play our game.”
Alex Riccuiti & Eric Ho made the trip out to Kings Park from New York City, and it paid off as they captured the title in the Men’s 4.0+ category. Like Henline and Quinonez, the pair was playing in their first tournament together, and came together to win over David Hernandez & Roberto Guzman in the championship.
“I think the thing for any new partnership is just understanding what your role is, what your strengths are and what your teammate’s strengths are,” said Ho. “I think we were able to figure that out early on, and stuck with our plan.”
And that plan, according to Riccuiti, was:
“We had a gameplan of getting to the net, playing it slow but offensive when we saw the opportunity. We were clean when we came to the net and capitalized on those opportunities…it was a very fun tournament, we got to meet some new people and saw some familiar faces as well. We’ll definitely be back.”
Below are the full results from the President’s Week Pickleball Classic:
Women’s Doubles 3.5
Gold: Rose Gardner & Jennifer Walsh
Silver: Mari Rose Fusco & Shavawn Lockhart
Bronze: Alexis Buatti-Ramos & Terri Catania
Women’s Doubles 4.0
Gold: Darlene Pergola & Lisa Goldberg
Silver: Heidi Hothan & Jennifer McGraw
Bronze: Karen Willmont & Lara Wang
Men’s Doubles 3.5
Gold: Josh Henline & Carlos Quinonez
Silver: Frank Frisone & Chris Biscuiti
Bronze: Scott Baker & Matt Demeo
Men’s Doubles 4.0
Gold: Alex Ricciuti & Eric Ho
Silver: David Hernandez & Roberto Guzman
Bronze: Roey Heymann & Brad Berger
Scenes from the 2024 President’s Day Pickleball Classic
