James Chaudry’s Team RAQT were crowned Season 1 winners of the Franklin Premier Pickleball League at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre last weekend.
Vice-captain Jess Wilson’s decisive backhand crosscourt winner in the final sparked scenes of jubilation amongst the team, which as well as James and Jess featured Daniel Wren, Mercedes Baxter-Chinery, Jamie Basford and Maisie Wise.
The team had battled from fifth place in the league standings to come through and win the playoffs, defeating Team PicklePlay 4-1 in a pulsating final.
The event was played on a full Pickleball United roll out Centre Court and was shown live via a professional live streaming setup that was played live on Tennis Channel and RAQT.
The day also featured PPL Pro Clinics hosted by Louis Laville, Thaddea Lock and Pei Chuan Kao and also hosted a 70-person festival run by Sam Anderson.
PPL director Louis Laville, captain of the runners up Team PicklePlay, told us: “We had a phenomenal final with worthy winners and fantastic play from all teams.
“If you compare this to the first PPL Event weekend at Basingstoke I am so proud of what the PPL Director Team has achieved. The first event was three taped courts on a tennis court and rushing through games to finish in time! There were only a handful of people watching the stream that was run through a webcam.
For the finale to be held at an Olympic venue is something we could only have dreamed of at the start of the season. The league has expanded into an elite sports league, with inclusivity and enjoyment being at the forefront of what we do.”
Season Two is going to be bigger and better with a Challenger Division, Masters (50+) Division and more pro clinics and festivals.
Louis takes us through the latter stages of the 2024 Franklin PPL finals day:
Quarter-finals
The morning began with RAQT taking on SB Pickleball and Advanced Pickleball taking on SCAN in the quarter finals. The Pickleball Store and PicklePlay received byes to the semi-finals thanks to their respective first and second place league finishes.
RAQT got off to a flier, beating SB Pickleball 4-2 in a thoroughly entertaining fixture. SCAN started extremely strongly as well, beating Advanced Pickleball 4-2, despite their captain, Freddie Powell, being unable to compete due to a recent foot injury sustained at the APP Miami Open.
These results led to RAQT playing The Pickleball Store in one semi-final and SCAN playing PicklePlay in the other.
Semi-finals
PicklePlay started well, winning men’s singles in straight sets, however SCAN came back strongly, winning women’s doubles with relative ease. PicklePlay won the next three disciplines – mixed doubles, men’s doubles and women’s singles, to win the fixture 4-1 and advance to the final!
RAQT vs The Pickleball Store was arguably match of the day. Both captains (James Chaudry and Thaddea Lock) won all three matches, meaning we had our first and only Dreambreaker of the day. RAQT came through it 21-13 to advance to the final!
The final
Men’s singles began with 2023 national champion James vs 2023 European Champion Louis – and it did not disappoint. James continued his singles dominance which he has shown so prominently all over the world in recent tournaments, beating Louis in straight sets.
The women’s doubles followed suit with Jess Wilson and Mercedes Baxter-Chinery beating Anty Giuliano and Sabrina Edwards Pereira. However, PicklePlay mounted a comeback, with Emily Jelly and Louis beating James and Jess in straight sets.
But RAQT showed their true class to halt this comeback by putting on a phenomenal display in the men’s doubles, with Daniel Wren and James beating Louis and Guy Laville comfortably.
RAQT were crowned champions after Jess beat Emily in a great women’s singles game. The team spirit was in full flow with captain and VC James and Jess embracing with the rest of their team to celebrate the victory!
Results
Champions: RAQT (capt: James Chaudry)
Runners up: PICKLEPLAY (capt: Louis Laville)
Third place: THE PICKLEBALL STORE (capt: Thaddea Lock)
Fourth place: SCAN (capt: Freddie Powell)
Fifth place: ADVANCED PICKLEBALL (capt: Mollie Knaggs)
Sixth place: SB PICKLEBALL (capt: Pei-Chuan Kao)
Read more at the Franklin Premier Pickleball League website
Report by Louis Laville
