Berami picklers make foes see red for two weeks

KUCHING (Jan 21): Berami Red topped 22 other teams to carry off the Dato Sri Nancy Shukri Pickleball Cup in Santubong on Sunday.

The team comprising manager cum captain Raymond Ng Ming Kiong, Gilbert Yeo Siang Hak, Patrick Siqueen, Elmy Muliani Ajaib Jamahari, Nur Hanisya Salleh Arif, Nazerene Salleh Arif and Christopher Bishop, edged Pickleball Lover 2-1 in the final.

Berami Red kicked off their campaign by winning two group matches and advanced to the last 16 where they blanked Silly Geese 2-0 and edged Pikabol Podium Ace 2-1 in the semi-final.

The winning team earned the RM3,000 cash prize while Pickleball Lover picked up RM2,000. Finishing third place and fourth were Pickleball Podium Ace and Berami Blue who pocketed RM1,000 and RM800 respectively.

SPD A, Cloud 9, Headhunters, Lebunda, Podium Project, Damai, MUSCS, SLPAS Nite Gang, PB Jarhead 1, PB Jarhead 2, GBL Darat, Paddlemates, RB Rinduk. GBL Laut and SLPAS Old Boys were the other teams in the tournament which started last Friday.

It was a back-to-back victory for Berami Red who also won the team title in the Summer Shopping Mall Pickleball Invitational Tournament in Kota Samarahan in the previous weekend.

“This is a competitive tournament with so many teams and it was very challenging for all teams because of the continuous changes in venues due to inclement weather,” Ng told the Borneo Post.

Berami Red and Berami Blue represented Berami Pickleball Club which was formed last year.

Meanwhile, other winners in the tournament were Mohd Nurhadzmi (Men’s Singles Open), Hazizul Bujang Mayah-Mohd Nurhadzmi (Men’s Doubles Open), Lydia Wong-Tang Xiao Li (Women’s Doubles Open), Benjamin Tian-Lydia Wong (Mixed Doubles), Christopher Bishop-Patrick Siqueen (Men’s Doubles Veteran).

It was the first major pickleball event of the year jointly organised by RB Rinduk Pickleball Club and Kelab Rekreasi Berimbai Kuching in collaboration with P193 Santubong Parliamentary Service Centre. The tournament attracted 417 picklers from Miri, Sibu, Sri Aman, Kuching, Samarahan and Kuala Lumpur.

Event patron Dato Sri Nancy Shukri, who is federal Minister of Women, Family and Community Development and also MP for P193 Santubong, closed the event and gave away the prizes.