NEWS FROM THE GLOBAL PICKLEBALL COMMUNITY
PLANET
Pickleball
NEWS FROM THE GLOBAL PICKLEBALL COMMUNITY
Europe ’ s Best Make a U . S . Impact
T
By KAREN MITCHELL
DIRECTOR , PICKLEBALL ENGLAND
Team Europe fell in an agonizing 5-4 defeat to the USA in the inaugural APP Atlantic Cup in Miami , Florida , in March .
The APP Atlantic Cup is a Ryder Cup style pickleball event played between teams of six over two days in a best-ofnine format . The European Pickleball Federation ’ s selected players were Thaddea Lock and Louis Laville ( joint captains ), fellow Brit James Chaudry , Pialena Ander ( Sweden ), María Costantino ( Spain ) and Felix Grunert ( Germany ).
The event was played alongside the Chase APP Miami Pickleball Open taking place concurrently in the giant Miami Beach Convention Center from March 19-24 .
After two days of the Atlantic Cup event , Team Europe led 4-2 . But with their backs against the wall , Team USA rattled off three straight Mixed Doubles victories on Sunday to claim the title
Left to right : Anna Leigh Waters , Leigh Waters , Thaddea Lock and Pei Chuan following a pro women ’ s doubles match at the US Open in Naples , Florida , in April . of Atlantic Cup champions 5-4 .
There was a small fan base with the European team , creating some good noise , and an even bigger fan base following the developments from Europe . Everyone was proud of the fight even though we lost on the final game .
English players Thaddea , Louis and James returned to Florida a month later , refreshed and ready to make an impact at the US Open Pickleball Championships in Naples , Florida . They were joined by Pei Chuan Kao from Taiwan , currently residing in London . Once again , this group acquitted themselves well .
Standout achievements : Pei and Thaddea came in 7th out of 29 in Women ’ s Doubles . They played a quarterfinal against the # 1 seed Anna Leigh Waters and her mom , Leigh Waters , earning 5 points in game one ! Pei also came in 7th out of 32 in Women ’ s Singles . James came in 8th out of 32 in Men ’ s Singles .
Playing U . S . pros will only help strengthen this group ’ s game . Come see them play in the English OPEN in August .
The English OPEN is on Aug . 8-14 . For more information visit pickleballengland . org / 2024- english-open . •
72 TO SUBSCRIBE , CALL 412.914.8294 OR GO TO PICKLEBALLMAGAZINE . COM