Long Island Pickleball Challenge Hits Sportime Kings Park
The Long Island Tennis Magazine Pickleball Challenge Event Series rolled on as Men’s and Women’s Doubles teams descended onto Sportime Kings Park on Saturday morning.
The teams battled through multiple rounds of Group Play to determine who would advance to the knockout rounds.
Click Here to see more photos from the Long Island Tennis Magazine Pickleball Challenge
In the Women’s Doubles 3.5-4.0 Division, the duo of Emilie Katz & Val Bogard used their experience playing together to capture the championship, defeating Lisa Goldberg & Darlene Pergola in the finals.
“We’ve been playing together for a long time, so we have good communication and chemistry together on the court,” said Katz.
Bogard added:
“I feel like this was our best tournament as a team, from start to finish we were playing consistent,” she said. “This event was great, things ran smoothly and there were a lot of great people who made it very enjoyable.”
Finishing in third place and earning the Bronze Medal was the pairing of Missy Edelbaum & Nancy Feldman.
In the Men’s Doubles 4.0-4.5 Division, C.J. Shank & Nicholas Stone were able to outlast Dean Papakonstantis & Kyle Berger in a tightly-contested finals to win the championship.
“Consistency was the key for us today,” said Shank. “We’ve played together before but this was our first title together. It was a tough final but we are glad we were able to pull through.”
Stone added:
“Like C.J. said, just staying consistent, and a big thing for me was making sure to keep my overheads in the court to put those points away.”
The event featured a breakfast spread consisting of croissants, muffins, coffee, bananas and waters, and prizes were provided to the winners and runner-ups thanks to Viking Athletics, Halftime Chiller, adidas Pickleball and OSIM USA.
Click Here to see more photos from the Long Island Tennis Magazine Pickleball Challenge
“We were proud to once again put on a professionally-run pickleball event. The entire tournament ran smoothly and was completed in under four hours,” said Tournament Director David Sickmen. “We would like to thank our sponsors Viking Athletics, Halftime Chiller, adidas Pickleball and OSIM USA, as well as Sportime Kings Park, for helping to elevate the event. 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.”
The next Long Island Pickleball Challenge event will be held on Saturday, September 16 at Sportime Hempstead Lake. Click Here for more information or to register.
Top Three Finishers
Women’s Doubles
Gold – Emilie Katz & Val Bogard
Silver – Darlene Pergola & Lisa Goldberg
Bronze – Missy Edelbaum & Nancy Feldman
Men’s Doubles
Gold – CJ Shank & Nicholas Stone
Silver – Dean Papakonstantis & Kyle Berger
Bronze – Chris Pipala / Michael Edelstein
