USAPA Medalists 70+ Mixed Doubles from left are Marc Reinhart, Alice Tym (Silver); Bob Youngren, Marylou Furaus (Gold); Paul Hawkes and Rosi Pietromonaco (Bronze)
The National Pickleball Tournament was held this year at Robson Ranch in Casa Grande, Arizona November 8 through 16. There were close to 1000 participants from across the U.S.A. and Canada. Marylou won the Gold in the 70 plus Mixed Doubles with partner Bob Youngren from California and the Silver Medal with Beverly Youngren, Bob’s wife, in the 70 plus Women’s Doubles.
There were 21 teams in the 70 plus Mixed Doubles category, including the top seed couple of Alice Tym and Marc Reinhart. Alice was once a professional tennis player and partner to Hall of Fame professional tennis player Billie-Jean King. In the fourth round of the competition, Marylou and Bob won the match against Alice and Marc 11-6, 11-8. Alice and Marc still would have a chance to come back through the loser’s bracket. In the fifth round semi-finals, Marylou and Bob were behind 10-5 in an 11 point tiebreaker. They came back to win the match 12-10 in a thriller to advance to the finals. Meanwhile Alice and Marc won through the loser’s bracket to advance to the finals too. Since Marylou and Bob were unbeaten so far, Alice and Marc would have to win the next best two out of three games match and then one more game to 15 points (must win by two points). In the first two games, each team got a lopsided win, leading to a tie-breaker game which Alice and Marc won. This led to one final game to 15 points. By now it was about 8:00 p.m., under the lights, very cold and with a very intense wind. Each team led several times throughout the final game and neither team could gain the two point advantage required for the win. The freezing and tired spectators were praying for anyone to win, just to end their misery. Finally Marylou and Bob prevailed, winning the match and the Gold medal, 19-17.
There were nine teams in the 70 plus Women’s Doubles category. Again the top seed was Alice Tym and her partner Nancy Sass. In the third round Marylou and Beverly lost to Alice and Nancy 12-10 and 11-4. Marylou and Beverly then won the loser’s bracket to earn the right to play for the Gold Medal in the finals. Coming back through the loser’s bracket they now have to win the first match to force a final game to 15 points. They did win the first match in two straight games, 11-8 and 11-7. In the final game they fought valiantly but lost 15-10 earning them the Silver Medal. Congratulations to Marylou and her partners! Winning any kind of medal in a National Tournament is quite an accomplishment! Come to think of it, just competing in a National Tournament is an accomplishment! Congratulations to all of the PebbleCreekers that participated in the USAPA National Pickleball Tournament!