Recap

Northern Rollers Squeak by East Toronto Smash

Smash Women Win Tight Women’s Contest

Say one thing for this game, none of the participants left anything on the Pickleroll floor. The East Toronto Smash pair of Christina Chin and Kim Layton emptied the tank to get by the Northern Rollers team of Jessica Kawamoto and Casey Rodgers, 21-17. Of note, this game saw what was likely the longest rally in the Eastern Split, the point finally won by the Rollers, who trailed 12-9 then.

Throughout the game there were many extended dinking rallies, which wasn’t common during this tournament. Chin and Layton were superb together, rallying their way to a 7-3 lead. The Rollers didn’t back down and eventually tied the score up 13-13, with a great Kawamoto ATP for a point included.

After Rodgers cracked an overhand to tie the game at 14-14, the Smash called a much-needed timeout. In control much of the game, the rest did them well, but it wasn’t a pleasure cruise to the result, the ending point coming on a Kawamoto unforced error.

Rollers Clip Smash in Gripping Men’s Game

Given the combatants, this one had the hallmarks of a gritty, dramatic affair. In the end, the Rollers Ryan Torresin and Matt Stodola took down the Smash’s Dalbir Bhandal and fiery Nathan Choi, 21-18. Like the previous women’s game, this time the Rollers were just a little bit better in the kitchen and at speeding things up at key times.

The Rollers cruised from the first volley, taking a 7-2 lead with both Torresin and Stodola pounding winners. Choi and Bhandal though, came right back with a few of their own, trimming the lead to 7-6. Unforced errors gave the lead right back to the Rollers, who went up 12-6. It was the Rollers turn, however, to make several errors and take a timeout up just 13-12.

The Rollers, after the break, never relinquished the lead, though the result was still no foregone conclusion. Both teams battled hard in the kitchen, until the Smash needed a timeout down 19-15. They did make things interesting after, with Choi supplying the fireworks, but the Rollers held fast and tied the match on a Torresin overhand bomb.

Rollers Take Command of Match with Big Mixed Triumph

For a moment, it looked like the Smash’s Dalbir Bhandal and Kim Layton might beat the high-powers Rollers pair of Jessica Kawamoto and Ryan Torresin. Well, it was brief, with Player of the Match Torresin and energetic Kawamoto erasing an early deficit and beating the Smash 21-12.

The turning point in this one had to be the Erne that Torresin sent at Layton, giving the Rollers a 5-4 lead. The onslaught continued until the Smash’s second timeout, the score 13-6 in the Rollers favor. Four points later it was 16-7, with Torresin accounting for seven points and Kawamoto three to that point. Unforced errors were the Smash’s undoing for the rest of this game, and fittingly, Torresin won it on a wicked forehand.

Smash Square Match, Winning Tough One

In a reversal of the previous mixed doubles tilt, this time it was the Smash’s Christina Chin and Nathan Choi’s turn to come back from being down early, to beating the Rollers Casey Rodgers and Matt Stodola, 21-17. Stodola and Rodgers each crushed a nice winner apiece, staking them to a 4-2 lead. But six points later, Choi smoked a game-changing ATP that changed the tide, and added an Erne that clipped Rodgers to make the count 10-5.

The Rollers would turn that score around, ultimately tying it up at 15-15, a period that included a Stodola Erne that knocked Chin down for a bit. Choi and Chin, though, owned the rest of this key game, combining stellar defense with great shot making.

Rollers Decide Match in Thrilling Singles Tiebreaker

After the Pickleball war these two teams waged beforehand it made sense it would go to a singles tiebreaker, and the red-hot Rollers won it 21-18. The Smash did forge an early 4-2 cushion, yet that would be their last lead of the day, the Rollers taking command and cementing the match.

In individual mini-sets, Christina Chin narrowly beat Jessica Kawamoto, 5-4 in three sets, both trading some good shots, but missing some Dura balls entirely. The Smash’s Kim Layton ensured that her team’s women came out on top, also trimming Casey Rodgers by a 5-4 count.

The men’s side was where all the fireworks were, as Player of the Match Ryan Torresin battled back from three straight points lost to Nathan Choi, to winning the last five, including a key 3-0 blank to increase the Rollers lead to 17-13. Matt Stodola narrowly won over Dalbir Bhandal, 7-5, with the winning backhander being a real sizzler.