PUNTA GORDA (WSNN) The World Pickleball Championship returns to Charlotte County for the second time.
After huge success in 2019, the World Pickleball Championship returns to the PicklePlex courts in Punta Gorda. The five-day tournament starts Wednesday afternoon.
“It will be great fun: never ever had anything like this in this sport,” World Pickleball Tournament owner, Jan David.
This is the first-ever Pickleball tournament awarding $100,000 in prizes.
“It’s very hard to achieve because there’s not much money in this sport, but we still decided to carry on,” David said. “Even though it’s not profit for us, it’s good for the sport. And it’s just showing the people that this is the future of the sport.”
Pickleball is a growing sport. It combines the elements of badminton, table tennis, and tennis. Two or four players use wooden paddles to hit a ball similar to a Wiffle ball over a net.
The PicklePlex of Punta Gorda is a non-profit with outdoor courts on the Florida South Western State College campus. President, Ted Kegeris, says the Suncoast is the perfect spot to host the championships.
“This area is actually the Meka of Pickleball. You have the U.S. opened down in Naples, you have the large city of Sarasota,” Kegeris said.
“So, we’re right in the middle. And it’s amazing the talent we have in this area and how many pros are from this area.”
The world’s top players are participating; including Team USA battling against Team WORLD.
“Most of the top 15 to top 20 players for each category, which means men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles also,” David said.
David says at least 10 countries are represented in this championship. Matches are 15 minutes each.
“Very short 18 matches on one court,” David said.
The games have COVID protocols in place with temperature checks and ample space for social distancing.
“It’s the space around four courts. So there’s enough space to disperse the people,” David said. “There will be chairs all around, there will be bleachers, there will be VIP seats.”
Tickets start at $15. You can buy tickets ahead of time or at the door. There’s more information about the event here.
