Top quality competition at Albany Pickleball Club’s annual championships as doubles and mixed crowns are won

The Albany Pickleball Club championships featured three high-quality finals as players did battle on the newly painted courts at Lawley Park.

It was a good weekend for Robyn Blair and Richard Harris, who each reached two finals and ended up with a win and a loss on their personal rosters.

Saturday saw the completion of the gender doubles, which was organised in two round-robin sections, with the winners of each contesting the grand final.

Blair and partner Dree Campbell probably started as favourites after winning all the games in their pool.

However, opponents Evelyn McLeod and Di Fry managed to dominate the net and build a resounding lead to earn a match point at 14-6.

Blair and Campbell managed to win back the serve but could claw back only a single point as they went down 15-7.

The men’s title was won by Harris and Mitch Kono, whose guile overcame the power of brothers Lawson and Cooper Michael.

Cooper Michael threw himself all over the court as the brothers defended with everything they had, but after an even start Kono and Harris grabbed four points in a row to turn a 4-3 advantage into a useful 8-3 lead.

They closed the game out without losing another point.

The mixed competition attracted 15 pairs the following day, with Blair lining up alongside Chris Whitaker to take on Harris and Meg Anderson in the showpiece contest.

It was a nip and tuck match with the points even until Whitaker and Blair scrambled three points in a row to turn an 11-12 deficit into a match point at 14-12.

Harris and Anderson managed to win an exchange of volleys at the net to grab the serve but could not take advantage as Whitaker served out for the title.

Tournament organiser Will Richards said the events had been a great success.

“There were some great quality matches over both days,” he said.