Pickleball Magazine 3-5 WD | Page 32

The Bainbridge Cup continued
Andreas Kopkau- 2019 Cup host ; Bruna D ’ Albenzio , player ; Mike Hess , IFP President .
Fish Williams , Las Vegas ; Jayden Short , St . George , Utah ; Javier Munoz , Toledo , Spain ; Daniel Hernando , Madrid , Spain .
Pre-match dinner at the seaside restaurant Riviera . Players cheered and presented flags . Seventeen countries were represented .
Carolyn Laville , Wimbledon , England ; Roberto Rospo , Italy ; Jen Johnson , Oklahoma ; Guy Laville , England . Europeans make it a family affair . Guy is Carolyn ’ s son .
captain , and his French team were so supportive and they brought their children .
There were little kids hitting between matches and some very good young players who played in the tournament and won medals . Europeans see pickleball as a family sport — husbands , wives and kids all play . The tournament was a family affair . The Moore family ( Scott and Jon ) of the U . S . demonstrated the success of this model , and both had a good tournament .
All this went on while top players were drawing cheering crowds surrounding the court barriers . The medal ceremonies had flags waving , cameras , and a row of children sitting crosslegged at the foot of the podium . It was a delightful picture of the future of pickleball . The most touching moment came during the Sunday night banquet . The Sea Lion Hotel was the players ’ headquarters and the site of the delicious seaside banquet . Zelindo thanked all of his staff and the U . S . support team . You could tell he was pleased the Cup and Italian Open were so successful . Then IFP President Mike Hess spoke on behalf of the IFP and awarded the Cup to the U . S . captains . He then explained the meaning of the IFP Sportsmanship Award , and broke down while describing Ian Medhurst ’ s contributions to the Cup last year . Ian is currently undergoing treatment for a medical condition and we all wish him well . Mike announced Ian as the first recipient of the award and showed the plate he will receive . Then Scott Moore presented this year ’ s award to Roberto Rospo of Italy . Multilingual Roberto helped everyone ! He was the translator for various teams and always had a smile for each and every player . Team captains made the selection and there were many , many wonderful candidates . It is a testament to the sport that sportsmanship is present in all of the countries and the captains kept thinking of more and more examples .
Behind the scenes was a great deal of hard work . The Italians came through with flying colors and Mike Hess did another outstanding job organizing the event . Final cheers came with the announcement that the Bainbridge Cup will take place in Dusseldorf , Germany , in July 2019 ; Andreas Kopkau was there to accept the Bainbridge Cup paddle .
Finally , the Cup and the Open were wellsupported by vendors . Dave Kukleski of Gamma Sports and Rodney and Karen Grubbs of Pickleball Rocks flew in from the U . S . and set up displays in the entry hall along with a large , colorful shirt display of Kelme . Onix , Pickleball Central , Selkirk , Pro-lite , Paddletek and Pickleball Trips were also there to support the players and events .
Bravo Zelindo ! Grazie Mike ! Viel Gluck Andreas ! •
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