Champions battle way to gold

The World Champions of professional pickleball were crowned Sunday, Nov. 10, in front of a packed and rowdy crowd at the Lapiplasty Pickleball World Championships. DFW locals and pickleball fans from across the globe descended on Brookhaven Country Club to celebrate the world’s best players and the passionate pickleball community. 

In a huge upset, the women’s doubles team of Rachel Rohrabacher and Fort Worth native Anna Bright defeated the dominant force in the women’s doubles bracket, Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau. In a clean, three game sweep, Bright and Rohrabacher defeated the Waters/Parenteau team to claim the World Championships 11-4, 11-8, 11-6.

Following the women’s doubles match, the men’s doubles match took place on Proton Championship Court with the team of Riley Newman and Hayden Patriquin emerging victorious against Dekel Bar and Pablo Tellez. Patriquin kept the Bar/Tellez team at bay with his quick defense while Newman found opportunities to punch through points. The final match score follows: 11-4, 11-6, 11-8.

After the match, Newman gave credit to his young playing partner Patriquin, saying, “he is a partner that is super uplifting, and super encouraging.”

The next match of the day featured the two biggest stars, Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns fighting for gold against the team of Christian Alshon and Etta Wright. The Waters/Johns pairing made quick work in their defense of the mixed doubles World Championship title, sweeping the Alshon/Wright team in three games. Both dominant in singles competition, together Johns and Waters are an even greater force to be reckoned with. Although the talented Alshon and Wright fought hard in a tight game one, the deadly Waters/Johns combo proved too much smoke for the team to handle. The final match score was 11-9, 11-5, 11-2.

Johns gave some input into how their competitors were able stay in the match. “I wasn’t reading Etta well and she was putting some heavy counters on me. They do a variety of things to make them really dangerous,” said Johns.

In the penultimate gold medal match of the day, World No.1 Federico Staksrud battled Dallas native Michael Loyd in the Men’s Singles final. Unfortunately for the Dallas faithful, the Argentine Staksrud was just too much for the local Loyd, winning by a match score of 11-3, 11-7. 

In the final gold medal match of the day, Anna Leigh Waters battled the red-hot Kate Fahey in the Women’s Singlesbracket. In a competitive match, Waters was able to, once again, emerge as World Champion in women’s singles by a match score of 11-7, 11-8.

The Lapiplasty Pickleball World Championships welcomed thousands of amateur players and fans over a 10-day stretch - celebrating the incredible pickleball community through a festival-like atmosphere on Pickleball Boulevard.