The Franklin Premier Pickleball League has been underway since June 2023, and last Sunday (28 January) saw Team Pickleball Store, led by British No.1 Thaddea Lock, crowned league champions of the inaugural season.
The team, composed of Thaddea, Pep Giuliano, Emerson Gregory, Emma Wrixon, Bernie Audibert and Suzanne Rouse, saw off Team Advanced Pickleball and Team Scan to secure them top spot in the league element of the season.
Following fixtures around the country, the six PPL teams converged on Kingsley Tennis Centre in Hampshire to complete their final two fixtures of the league season. These games proved crucial in determining the final position of each team in the league, and therefore their seeding heading into the Championship Finale on Sunday 28 April. Heading into this weekend, the table was as follows:
SB Pickleball were the in-form team, having picked up two wins out of two at the last fixture in Cambridge, meaning it was all to play for to secure the top two spots and qualify straight into the semi-final stages for the finale.
The Franklin PPL team also trialled a new format for the day, consisting of clinics in the morning led by some of the PPL captains, and a festival running at the same time as the PPL matches, allowing players of all levels to see what were some captivating games as well as get some good games of their own!
Players expressed how much they enjoyed being able to play in the festival whilst also having the opportunity to watch all of Britain’s best players competing against one another.
The Matches
Scan vs Pickleball Store – Pickleball Store won 4-3 in a Dreambreaker
RAQT vs SB Pickleball – SB Pickleball won 4-3 in a Dreambreaker
Advanced Pickleball vs PicklePlay – PicklePlay won 4-3 in a Dreambreaker
Scan vs RAQT – RAQT won 4-2
Advanced Pickleball vs Pickleball Store – Pickleball Store won 4-2
SB Pickleball vs PicklePlay – PicklePlay won 4-3 in a Dreambreaker
The crucial match going into this fixture was the top of table clash between Scan and Pickleball Store. Scan needed a win to stay in the race for finishing top of the league, but were weakened by two missing players, with Julie Macauley and Bonita Baker both unavailable.
With the game hanging in the balance at 3-3 after all the doubles matches, a tight and tense dreambreaker was almost inevitable, and what a treat it was. Thaddea faced off against Freddie Powell, producing some of the best dreambreaker singles points we have seen so far in the PPL. Team Pickleball Store eventually came out on top, and secured themselves top spot in the league in the process.
Team PicklePlay had a storming week, sweeping up two dreambreaker victories to propel them up to second in the table and securing a spot in the semi-finals for the Finale. Jason Edwards Pereira filled in alongside Louis Laville, Sabrina Edwards Pereira and Anty Giuliano in what proved a team just too strong in the singles.
Player of the Weekend went to Jess Wilson of Team RAQT, who lost just one of her games across both of RAQT’s matches this weekend.
Attention now turns to the Finale on 28 April at the Lee Valley Tennis Centre in London. Teams Pickleball Store and PicklePlay have both guaranteed themselves a semi final slot, whilst the other four teams will have to qualify in through a quarter-final:
SB Pickleball vs RAQT (winner to face Pickleball Store)
Scan vs Advanced Pickleball (winner to face PicklePlay)
More information will be available soon regarding finals day and how you can get involved via premierpickleball.co.uk
