The Villages Daily Sun

THE VILLAGES — The first day of the inaugural Lake Miona Advanced Pickleball Championships went so well the players didn’t want to stop playing — literally.

The schedule called for eight quarterfinal matches to be held Thursday morning in the men’s and women’s doubles divisions of the tournament, which does not have age groups. However, once on the courts, the competitors decided to play right through the semifinal round, setting up two championship matchups this morning at Lake Miona Recreation Center.

Lynda Feustel, the recreation facility manager at Lake Miona Recreation Center, said the tournament was an immediate hit.

“We had some great players and the number of spectators was terrific as well,” Feustel said. “It was an exciting morning.”

In the women’s division, the team of Nancy Nowak and Deborah Harrison will face Siew Crenshaw and Diane Bock for the championship. That match will be followed by the men’s championship match pitting Bill Freeman and Jeff Shank against Larry Cole and Barry Gee.

In women’s action Thursday, Nowak and Harrison got off to a bit of a slow start, dropping their first game before coming back to defeat MaryAnne Madak and Brianna French 6-11, 11-2, 11-3 in the

quarterfinals.

The duo advanced to the finals with an 11-2, 12-10 victory over Dianne Jones and Barbara Dewitt in the semifinals.

Crenshaw and Bock punched their ticket to the finals with victories over Cecelia Means and Judy Kraus (11-6, 11-9) in their first match, then Midge Ferraro and Sue Saroullo in three games (11-4, 7-11, 11-9) in the

semifinals.

On the men’s side, Freeman and Shank advanced to the finals by virtue of an 11-1, 11-6 victory over Bill Johnson and Ken Cornell in the semifinals. Cole and Gee defeated Don Chaulk and Tom Nonnemacher in the other semifinal 11-3, 11-7 to earn the right to play for the

championship.

Today’s championship matches begin at 7:30 a.m. with the women’s match, followed by the men’s match at approximately 8 a.m. at the Lake Miona Recreation Center.

Spectators once again are encouraged to come and watch.