By MARK REY MONTEJO
The Philippine pickleball team flexed its might and manhandled Vietnam, 3-0, to become the first-ever champion of the Pickleball Champions League (PCL) Season 1 at the Ramsport Stadium in Shenzhen, China over the weekend.
Grouped with some of the toughest Asian squads, the quartet of Ken De La Cruz, Nik Isagan, Fatima Amirul, and Medeline Saraza proved up the task as they toppled their rivals one after another before demolishing the Vietnamese in the finals of all three categories.
Their historic title win was highlighted by De La Cruz and Isagan’s gutsy rally in the men’s doubles finals where the duo exhibited steely resolve to turn a 16-20 deficit into a 23-21 lead that all but disarmed the Vietnam pair.
In a fitting sequel to that victory, eventual Most Valuable Player winners Amirul and Saraza torched their foes in the women’s finale, 21-14, and gave the Nationals a comfortable 2-0 series lead.
Isagan and Amirul landed the knockout blow in the mixed doubles event where they hammered out a 21-16 victory.
Under the tutelage of coach Kim Saraza, the PH crew posted 6 wins against one draw with their win-loss record catapulted them straight to the best-of-five semifinal against Hong Kong, which it also blanked, 3-0.
Hong Kong and Guangzhou shared the bronze in the eight-team competition that was also joined by Singapore, Malaysia, Beijing, and host Shenzhen.
