Teenagers Chase McCrimmon and Jaden Jones defied the odds to be crowned champions at the BDABLUE Pickleball Open, which concluded at Pomander Gate Tennis and Pickleball Club on Monday.

McCrimmon and Jones, both aged 13, defeated the father and son team of Mason and Peter Illston 11-9, 11-5 in the final to lift the 3.5-3.99 men’s title.

Liana Carrick, the Pomander Gate club manager, said McCrimmon and Jones displayed a high level of resilience in the eight matches they played against opponents who have been playing the sport for longer.

“It was not an easy route to get to the final for them and they had very strong competition,” Carrick said.

“They have been playing quite a bit of pickleball through the summer but they were up against people that have been playing for quite a few years. They definitely showed what talent they have between them.”

Other winners during the course of the three-day event were Bermuda’s star tennis player Gavin Manders, who teamed up with his Davis Cup partner James Finnigan to overcome Mark Cordeiro and Stuart Smith 11-7, 7-11, 11-4 in the men’s doubles 4.0 and above final.

John Stephens and Steven Bridges were crowned champions in the men’s doubles 3.0-3.49 division after beating Ricardo Larranaga and Matt Hooper 11-4, 11-10.

In the women’s doubles 3.0-3.49 final, Laura Bardgett and Ailish Byrne just edged out Lily Hallett and Elin Daniels 11-10, 11-9, with Sheila Fisher and Janice Bucci winning the women’s doubles 3.5 and above by default.

Stephens combined with Tracy Shott to beat Larranago and Daniels in the mixed doubles 3.0-3.49 final, with Nancy Kempe and Mike Burns taking home the mixed doubles 3.5-3.99 after a pulsating 11-9, 11-9 success over Tori and Tucker Powell.

Sarah Fox and Courtland Boyle swept past Sue Chiappa and Neal Towlson 11-9, 11-1 in the mixed doubles 4.0 and above final.

Due to after-effects of Hurricane Lee, the opening day’s play for juniors on Friday was cancelled, with a round-robin event held instead on the last day.

“The event was meant to start on Friday evening and run through the whole weekend and finish up on Monday evening, but with Hurricane Lee heading our way we had to make the difficult decision to cancel the singles event on Friday evening,’’ Carrick said.

“We started off on Saturday morning and from then on through the weekend we had perfect weather, although players did have to battle the heat on Saturday.

“We pretty much made it all up except for the singles event, so we’ll have to try and incorporate that into a future tournament because there seems to be a steadily growing interest in playing singles pickleball.”

Carrick was also pleased that the event had plenty of spectators watching the exciting conclusion to the tournaments on Monday.

“Throughout the weekend we did have a steady amount of spectators but Monday night was amazing,” she said.

“We had bleachers full of people and people sitting up on the grass around the courts and there was a fabulous atmosphere.

“It’s been an amazing event for all of us, it’s been quite a first-time event for players that are not members of Pomander Gate and it’s great to see such an increasing number of new faces in the sport as more and more courts are created around the island.

“We’re so pleased with how the tournament went. The sponsors are very happy with it and we’re definitely hearing a great deal of interest at the junior level to have a look at the sport and see where it fits with other activities that these children do.”

A total of $3, 540 was raised through entry fees from the 120 participants, with the cheque handed to Manders, who was recently added to the board of the Pickleball Association of Bermuda, to spearhead the growth of the sport at a junior level.

“The sponsors wanted all of the entry fees to go to the Pickleball Association of Bermuda which is a registered charity to be earmarked for junior development,’’ Carrick said.

“Gavin Manders recently joined the Pickleball Association to help introduce more juniors to the sport and he was on hand last night to accept the cheque from title sponsors Bermuda Blue Printing Limited and their subsidiary Island Embroidery Limited. AC Brewer Distributors was representing Franklin Sport and BGA Wholesale Distributors was representing four of their brands.”