Australian Pickleball Championships, Brisbane 2019

After months of hard work, the 2019 Australian Pickleball Championships (APC) were held on October 5 and 6 using 16 courts at the Hibiscus Sports Complex in Upper Mt Gravatt (Brisbane). 160 players from five states and overseas competed in 512 matches in 23 divisions divided over five different events. Organising and running the Brisbane Championships was an enormous task and we are grateful to Jen Ramamurthy, Mark Jagger, Nick Cooper, Mike Newell, Alison Barlow, Sue Hemsley and Sue Pollock for making the tournament such a success.

The Brisbane competition was three times larger than the inaugural APC held in Sydney in 2018. This is a loud statement about the rapid growth of the pickleball in Australia. In NSW we are seeing the growth weekly through increasing numbers of new players and demand for new venues.

At the APC, NSW had representatives from Nambucca to Five Dock. Congratulations to all the competitors in the tournament and especially to our NSW players who made NSW look good! NSW players who won or were runners up in Brisbane were:

CLICK HERE for complete competition results.
CLICK HERE to view photos from the competition.

Medals were given to all winners and runners up. A perpetual APC shield is kept for the winners of the open division in gender singles, gender doubles and mixed doubles. Thanks to the tournament sponsor, Golden Years, two perpetual awards were introduced at the Brisbane tournament.

• Player of the Tournament for the strongest performance across the tournament. The recipient this year was a young player from Melbourne, Aaron Blitz.
• Spirit of Pickleball Award for an individual who has provided an outstanding contribution to pickleball throughout the year. This year the recipient was PAA President, Gabi Plumm.

Plans for the 2020 APC are commencing. Get your third shot drops ready!