Long Island Pickleball Challenge Hits Sportime Hempstead Lake

September 20, 2023 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff

The Long Island Pickleball Challenge hit the pickleball courts of Sportime Hempstead Lake as doubles teams competed across three different divisions this past Saturday.

The teams battled it out in round-robin play which fed into the knockout rounds, with intense competition on court coupled with catered continental breakfast spread, adult beverages and a social atmosphere off the court which kept the event fun and lively.

“Long Island Tennis Magazine and Sportime do such a great job with these events,” said Louis Butzgy, who partnered with Nicole Beiner to win the Mixed Doubles 3.5-4.0 division. “I know they run a lot of tournaments, so we’re excited to just keep it going.”

Butzgy & Beiner defeated Ira Rosmarin & Jolie Weintraub in the Mixed Doubles Championship.

**Mixed Doubles Champions Nicole Beiner & Louis Butzgy**

“We were doing a good job of communicating during matches, and we just recently started stacking which has helped our communication,” added Butzgy. “It really comes down to trust. I trust her to control the net when she has to and she does a great job of that.”

Beiner added:

“Talking to your partner and adjusting from opponent-to-opponent is really important, and we were able to do that. The tournament was really well-run, they told you everything beforehand, how the playoffs would work and everything, and that is really helpful to stay ready and focused.”

In the Women’s Doubles 3.5-4.0 division, the pairing of Emilie Katz & Aleksandra Mally developed an on-court chemistry as the tournament progressed which proved to be the difference as they captured the Gold Medal.

The duo defeated Diann Starcke & Renee Lemmerman in the championship match.

“We never competed in pickleball together but we had practiced before which definitely helped,” said Katz. “The first match in group play we got used to each other and then after that we clicked, and it all came together.”

**Women’s Doubles Champions Emilie Katz & Aleksandra Mally**

A key factor was being able to find the right times to be aggressive.

“We got better as we played more matches, and were able to change up the pace of points, going from dinking to being more aggressive at times,” Mally added. “We figured out who should be getting the middle balls and that helped us play much more offensively.”

The Men’s Doubles 4.0-4.5 division came down to a championship battle in which Harlan Rappaport & Alex Ricciuti took on Nick Stone & C.J. Shank. In the end, Rappaport & Ricciuti would come away victorious.

“We made the smart plays,” Ricciuti said of their key to success. “We started well in the group stage although we got kind of tight towards the end of those matches, but once we got into the playoffs we got back to playing our game. We put the pressure on them when we needed to and executed our shots.”

Rappaport gave his thoughts on the event overall.

**Men’s Doubles Champions Harlan Rappaport & Alex Ricciuti**

“This was great. A lot of tournaments you are waiting an hour in between matches, but this kept everyone moving and playing, and that’s huge. I actually played a tournament recently where I played a total of seven games total in six hours. So this was perfect.”

The Long Island Pickleball Challenge was another installment of the Long Island Tennis Magazine Summer Series as we continue to make a strong push to provide fun racquet sport events for the local community.

“We were proud to once again put on a professionally-run pickleball event. The entire tournament ran smoothly and we had some great competition,” said co-tournament Director David Sickmen. “We would like to thank our sponsors adidas Pickleball, Halftime Chiller, OSIM USA, Sportime and Viking Athletics. Sportime Hempstead Lake and its 10 pickleball courts (six dedicated, four hybrid) was the perfect host facility. We’re excited to continue our involvement within the pickleball community, and help to further the sport’s growth by running more special events like this moving forward.”

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE LI PICKLEBALL CHALLENGE – SEPTEMBER 16

FULL RESULTS

Men’s Doubles Champions

Gold – Harlan Rappaport & Alex Ricciuti

Silver – Nick Stone & CJ Shank