Another tourney is going on, using King of the Court format: top 2 finishers in each Rung move up, bottom two move down.
~ didn’t make the playoff ~
At the end of week five, players on the top rung of each ladder will compete in a playoff: each level will hold its own playoff.
Three placement groups, red, white, and blue; each has 20 players. I’m #4 in the blue group, which means I start in Rung 1.
- wk 1: 12-15, 15-13, 15-14 ⬇️ 42 pt, →R2
- wk 2: 4-15, 5-15, 15-7 ⬇️ 66 total pts: 9th; →R3
- wk 3: 15-13, 15-4, 15-12 ⬆️ 45 pts, →R2
- wk 4: 15-6, 15-11, 11-15 ⬆️ 41 pts (183: 6th), →R1
- wk 5: 6-15, 12-15, 13-15 ⬇️ 31 pt
- playoffs
Today is Week 1. I drew Court 8, with group mates Yan, Lori and Michelle:
1️⃣ w/ Yan: 12-15
2️⃣ w/ Lori: 15-13
3️⃣ w/ Michelle: 15-14
Although I won 2 out of 3 sets, pointwise, I came in #3: it’s a very competitive match.
I haven’t played since the last tourney Skorts & Shorts last November.
At 7:15, the temperature is only 47. My ex-Rally Cats captain lent me his jacket to keep me from freezing.
In the first set with Yan, we were trailing. I don’t know if Yan had played before, but she’s really good. I committed no apparent errors: no serve fault, no two-bounce rule fault. Michelle called on herself when she hit my return out of the air.
Moving on to the second set with Lori, it was easy because I have a lot of confidence in her. Lori served a ball that landed on the line but mostly on the other side of the court. Yan called it out. As the set progressed, we were leading but let the opponents catch up by a decent margin before we took the set.
The third set with Michelle was the toughest one. We were trailing 1-7 when the other four courts were completed. I have two faults: one serve and one two-bounce rule. Interestingly, one of Michelle’s serves also landed on the middle lane, mostly on the other side of the court. Yan hesitated for a moment and called it good. The last point at 14-14: Oppenonet’s return was high, I yelled “bounce,” Michelle called it ‘out,’ and I confirmed it.
My spin is working ok, about 70%. It’s very effective against Lori. Forehand spin worked better than backhand. I missed a few balls altogether, as if I didn’t see them: I rarely play at night.
About a dozen neighbors stayed till the end; some were on a duty call – recording the scores. Regardless, thank you all. And thanks for organizing it.
On a related note, the following morning, my aging body aches, which is why I don’t play pickleball often!
A total win for week #3 of the Ladder League.
I made a close call to the right. It looked out. When I asked Robyn for confirmation, she said,
w/ Yan: 4-15
w/ Sandra: 5-15
w/ Smolek: 15-7
