16 teams composed of more than 100 players from all over the country took part in the recently concluded Davao City Pickleball Club Inc (DCPCI) Invitational Cup held June 22-23 in Davao City.
Players competed for titles in four major doubles events, namely Men’s Intermediate, Women’s Intermediate, Men’s 50+ and Men’s Advanced.
The team from Marbel Pickleball Club (MPC) composed of Tony Aguilar and Chito Zarate bested all other participants in the Men’s Intermediate category, while Roxanne Alipala and Lovely Ginete of Bacolod Pickleball Club grabbed the gold for Women’s intermediate beating DCPCI’s Joni Sorigao and Joyce Haro.
For Men’s 50 and above, Chito Zarate and Mark Philip Mariveles of MPC triumphed over brothers Jose and Ronnie Gayol of DCPCI who landed in second place.
In perhaps one of the most exciting matches during the tournament, Bacolodnons Romeo Dimakiling and Erwin Española won over Koronadal favorites Tony Aguilar and Ian Agaha, two sets to one under the Men’s Advanced category.
According to Atty. Jong Agton, President of the DCPCI, this was the first time that a major Pickleball tournament has been staged in the City with participants from as far as the NCR, Visayas and Mindanao regions coming over to compete. “Our goal is to encourage more Davaoenos to indulge in Pickelball, he added.
Pickelball is now being played in over 60 countries and is considered as the fastest growing sport in the US for the past 3 years.
