Grand Canyon State Games
There was no shortage of skill at the Grand Canyon
State Games held February 22-26 at El Mirage , Arizona , but there were some matches where the talent ran especially deep .
The Women ’ s Doubles Age Groups 19 +, 35 + ( 19 +) featured Melissa McCurley and Sara Ash defeating Cat Grant and Linh Ansboury , while the Women ’ s Doubles Age Groups 19 +, 35 + ( 35 +) had Christine Barksdale and Joy Leising winning over Jamie Knoph and Shonda Schallenberger . In the women ’ s main event , the Women ’ s Doubles Skill 19 +: 5.0 , Barksdale and Leising weren ’ t able to bring the win — losing to Sarah Ansboury and Christine Mc- Grath .
But the big winner over the course of the four-day tournament was Dave Weinbach , who took home four gold medals for four separate partnered matches . Weinbach won the Mixed Age 19 + with Sarah Ansboury , Men ’ s Age 19 + with Scott Moore , Mixed Open with Sarah Ansboury , and the Men ’ s Open with Kyle Yates .
“ I was fortunate enough to get the gold in all four events that I competed in ,” Weinbach said . “ Going into the tournament , I felt comfortable in all the events because I knew I had partners that enabled me to have the potential to win all events .”
In regards to Sarah Ansboury , he added that her competitiveness and ability to “ hyperfocus ” on the game at hand was key to those wins . “ She ’ s such a solid player ; she really has no weakness ,” he explained . “ You can tell she ’ s had a history of competitive sports . In mixed play , women get 90 percent of the balls , and they determine who wins and who loses . Sarah ’ s in the top two of women we have in the game .”
For the Men ’ s age division , Weinbach said his history with Scott Moore and the talent Moore brings to the net has them aiming for a three-peat for 2018 ’ s tournament .
“ I enjoy playing with Scott ; he ’ s the top senior men ’ s player in the country ,” Weinbach noted . “ He ’ s a beast once I can get him to the kitchen line . He lets
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