Weyburn pickleball player Deana Mainil came home with two silver medals from the 2019 Paddles on the Prairies Pickleball Tournament held on Aug. 24-25 at Evraz Place in Regina.
She teamed up with Jane Powell of Regina for the women’s doubles competition on Aug. 24, and then paired up with Ray Greenwood of Kisbey for the mixed doubles competition on Aug. 25.
All matches are best-of-three to 11 points, and you have to win by two points.
Mainil and Powell advanced to the gold medal game against Sawatzky and Clark,, and they lost 11-6 and 11-5, winning the silver medal.
There were nine teams entered in this event. The bronze medalists were Hogan and Etcheverry.
Pairing up with Greenwood for the mixed doubles, there were only four teams in this competition, so it was played as a round robin.
The third match was against Rose Sawatzky and Phil Greenwood, brother of Mainil’s playing partner. They lost by scores of 11-2 and 12-10, and earned the silver medal in this go-round.
The bronze medal winners were Powell and Carpentier.
“Those final two games were the best pickleball I have played in my life,” said Mainil. “The 11-2 score is not indicative of that, but Ray and I have never played so well against this team.”
She added that they were up on their opposition in the second game by a score of 10-6 at one point, but they weren’t able to finish that game off.
The two-day tournament was the largest pickleball tournament to date held in Saskatchewan, with 172 registered players.
For the full story on Mainil's experiences, check out the Weyburn Review on Sept. 4.
