Archive for "Pickleball"
Fun Weekend with My Gal Pals
Posted on November 3, 2022 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
One of my favorite parts about living in Wichita, besides the low cost of living, is that it is centrally located. A few weeks ago some ladies from Kansas City, Great Bend, and Tulsa met in Wichita for a women’s doubles scrimmage. Molly Sager and Genevieve Eskridge were teaming up for the upcoming Smash pickleball tournament in Oklahoma City and, since it will be their first time playing together, they wanted to get some practice matches. I pinged Nicole Mathis who I will be playing with for the first time also at the same tournament and, as luck would have it, she was available the same weekend.
Nicole arrived on Friday night so she and I could have some one-on-one team bonding time. We went to have dinner at Chicken N Pickle and also play with Brandi Richardson and Huyen Nguyen that evening.
She spent the night and the next morning we were back at Chicken N Pickle for a women’s doubles team round robin with all the ladies (from left): Caroline Luelf, Genevieve, Brandi, me, Sveta Yakubovich, Molly, Cindy Egan, Katie Merrill, Tami Racine, Nicole, and (from left on the ground) Greta Siemens, and Sarah Johnico.
Greta and Sarah are holding the crown because they were the most winning team that day. They had the best record out of everyone.
After playing, a few of us went to Tacos TJ before the ladies headed home. Brian and Ed came to join us. I can’t believe I didn’t get a group picture at the restaurant.
I did get these selfies with Katie and Genevieve (top pic, actually this is from Katie’s phone) and (bottom pic) me and Katie. She is so much fun!
I can’t wait to be reunited with everyone in a couple of weeks at Smash, even if we are going to have to compete against one another. Until then, GNG.
1 Comment
My Bartlesville Results
Posted on October 31, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball.
In the Bartlesville Pickleball Classic tournament a couple of weeks ago, I competed in 50/50 Advanced Mixed Doubles on Friday, 4.0 19+ Women’s Doubles on Saturday, and 4.0 19+ Mixed Doubles on Sunday. My results were not stellar that weekend but I will share them anyway.
Chris Wilson and I reunited and teamed up for the 50/50 event. I didn’t even realize it until today but I guess I’ve written about Chris a couple of times in this blog. LOL. The first time in 2020 and then the second time earlier this year.
The funny thing is when we signed up for Advanced 50/50, we thought it would be more like 4.0 level. When the confirmation email came out the week of the tournament, it showed 4.5 and above. We tried to move down to Intermediate 50/50 but it was too late to make any changes so we were stuck. It turned out okay though, because we ended getting 4th out of 8 teams (7 if you count the forfeit).
There were some amazing players in this group so I am not at all heartbroken about not making the podium. Then again, do I ever really get heartbroken about losing?
Even when Jenny Corley and I went 0-2 in women’s, I wasn’t really too update. The bracket seeding was a little wonky and then we had to play outside, which I’m not really fond of at all. I made some terrible shot choices and we just couldn’t get it together. This was our 3rd time playing together so I know we are both perfectly capable of performing better, but just an off day. And it happens.
On Sunday, I played mixed with 2nd time partner Michael Douglas who I hadn’t seen or played with since we played together last year in Smash. I met him in the ICT Classic pickleball tournament that same year (June 2021) when I played with Mason McCanless and he played with Deana Holman. He seemed pretty cool and we both seemed to appreciate the other’s style of play so we agreed to team up for Smash in the fall of that year.
Speaking of Deana, I’ve gotten to know her a little better over the past year. She and our other friends from Bartlesville (Kumar Krishnan and Brent and Karen Taylor) came up and played in my Rotary club’s Picklemania tournament in May. And then she let me stay with her for the Bartlesville tournament. It was so fun staying with Deana and meeting her husband Kent. They also hosted our friend Missina Sharp from Joplin and the Kents (Cody and Dana) from Springfield. It was great to all be able to hang out together and visit.
Besides the great food (I really liked the pork shoulder that Kent smoked), the endless hot water (they have a tankless system), and their wonderful hospitality, my favorite part of the weekend was bonding with their dog Stella who is so very sweet.
She would let me cuddle with her at night and come over for belly rubs and scratches in the morning when she knew I was awake. Saki doesn’t cuddle so I enjoyed this aspect of my stay at the Holman’s immensely.
Despite my tournament results (or lack thereof), the weekend I spent in Bartlesville was such a memorable one. I am so happy for all of my friends who made the podium. I had the opportunity to reconnect with friends I’d met at other tournaments and strengthen relationships with many of them. I also made several new friends, including a four-legged one. I mean, what more could I ask for?
Until next time, GNG.
No Comments
Fun Times in Bartlesville
Posted on October 26, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball.
Fun pictures from the Bartlesville Pickleball Classic pickleball tournament hosted by Kumar Krishnan and the amazing Bartlesville team.
Stories in the next post. Until next time, GNG.
2 Comments
Breaking in the New Wichita Flag Court
Posted on October 25, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball.
Aaron Blase, someone I have been friends with on Social Media for some time but hadn’t met yet in real life, was in Wichita visiting family a couple of weeks ago. He had never been to Chicken N Pickle so we agreed that would be a good place to meet up. I booked an outside court for us and found two others to play, Jessica Emoto and Austin Kirkwood. However, it turned out to be super windy that day. Thankfully, CNP had an extra indoor court open so we got to play inside for a bit until winds died down and we could play outside.
The winds did die down enough to where it was bearable to play outside. We got to play on the new Wichita flag court. I got two of our games on video.
It was wonderful finally meeting Aaron and I am grateful to Jessica and Austin for playing with us. Until next time, GNG.
No Comments
PPA Championships
Posted on October 21, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.
When you get invited to play in a tournament in Las Vegas and you don’t know where you’re staying, what do you do? You pack as light as you possibly can. This is me, “one-bagging” it…
I actually didn’t even plan to buy this bag. However, a few months ago, I found a deal on the Electrum website for the Pro II (a paddle that I had been patiently waiting for) and the bag. Both the paddle and bag would cost more if purchased separately but much cheaper if bought as part of the “bundle” (and also even 10% less using Matt Nola’s NOLA10 discount code) so I bought a bag I didn’t actually need to “save” money on the paddle.
The bag is enormous so I couldn’t really use it as my regular bag. Anyway, the trip to Vegas the perfect reason to break it in. I needed a backpack that could fit everything I needed for the weekend and my new Electrum pickleball bag was the answer. So my “personal” bag is the size of a carry-on. It’s still just one bag so I got away with paying the cheaper airfare also.
We went straight to the tournament site upon arriving in Vegas. We wanted to check out how our friend Matt was doing. They had 39 courts set up at the Darling Tennis Center. There were also fun vendor areas set up in between.
Part of the whole PPA Tour experience, besides playing in the tournament, is being able to watch the pros play on Championship Court.
Chicken N Pickle had the perfect spot for their vendor tent and it was pretty much home base for all the Chicken N Pickle sponsored athletes competing at the tournament that weekend.
Here are a few pictures from the weekend…
Julie Johnson (the Kansas City one, not JW and Jorja’s mom), Jen Reifschneider, and me. Below, me and Ryan Kellenbarger with a former WSU basketball player. Ryan knew him but I had no idea.
Picture of the Johnson twins – Hunter and Yates. Don’t ask me which is which.
Speaking of twins, Stacy Wessley and I got to do some twinning ourselves. Don’t mind the photo-bombers.
I met a couple of lovely Filipino ladies at the Better Than Tens tent.
We got to watch Anna Bright and Parris Todd punch their ticket to Championship Sunday — on Anna Bright’s birthday.
As far as my own playing goes, it wasn’t an exceptional weekend but I don’t think I played terribly either. On Thursday, Jen and I played in 4.0 19+ women’s doubles. We went 2-2. We fell in the semis — one win away from playing for Gold/Silver. The tournament format was double elimination with “no come around” which means once you lose in the main draw the best you can do is win Bronze.
Part of the motivation to do well in the back draw is the chance to come back and win Gold the hard way. I found the loss in semis demoralizing and was completely unmotivated. Anyway, had we won our match in the back draw, Jen and I would have played for Bronze.
Friday was men’s doubles day so the girls got a break. We did come out to the tournament to watch the pro matches and cheer on the guys. Unfortunately, results weren’t the best that day. I think most of the teams were 0-2.
Saturday was mixed doubles and Zach and I entered the 3.5 35+ division. Once again, we went 2-2. We were one win away from playing for Gold/Silver and one win away from playing for Bronze. Our semi-final match was a real heart-breaker. After losing the first game 12-14, we won the second game 13-11, and then we were up 10-6 in the third game but could not close. We ended up losing that game 10-12 and were sent to the back draw instead of moving on to the Gold/Silver match. What a day! I guess at least I was consistent.
Anyway, the big tournaments are always tough. Sometimes you come home with hardware, sometimes you don’t. For me, as long as I’m learning something and making new friends, I consider the trip worthwhile and successful. This trip was no different. Until next time, GNG.
1 Comment
