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Pickleball tournament includes more than 80 players from 12 states

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File photo The Middletown Pickleball Club will host its third annual Pickleball tournament Friday, Aug. 6 and Saturday, Aug. 7 at Lefferson Park.

Public can check out weekend-long tournament, which has doubled in size, is free of charge.

By Skip Weaver, Staff Writer Updated 8:40 AM Thursday, August 5, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — The Middletown Pickleball Club will host its third annual Pickleball tournament this weekend at Lefferson Park.

The tournament will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 6, with a ceremonial first hit by Middletown Mayor Larry Mulligan.

The tournament will then host competition in its men’s singles division followed by women’s doubles and finally men’s doubles.

On Saturday morning, competition begins at 8 a.m. with women’s singles and will finish with mixed doubles.

The public is invited to attend free of charge.

Organizer Stanley Volkens, who himself is one of the oldest participants at age 80, said the tournament size had doubled from last year’s entries.

“We have 83 players from 12 different states this year,” Volkens said. “That’s up from 41 last year.

“We have some friends coming from as far away as Utah for this tournament,” he added.

Participants from other states include Texas, Missouri, Indiana and Arizona.

“It’s a simple and fun game to learn.” Volkens said. “But it’s also pretty competitive.”

The game is played to 11 points, with scoring allowed only by the server. The tournament format will be the best 2 out of 3 series in the winners’ bracket, while the losers’ bracket will be one game only to 15 points.

Each game lasts about 15 minutes, Volkens said.

“It’s kind of an addictive game because it is so easy to learn,” said Volkens, who began the Middletown club six years ago.

Entrants must be 50 years of age or older to participate in the tournament. There also is no charging the net like in tennis. Volkens said there is a line seven feet from the net that a player cannot go into unless the ball, which is a large wiffle ball, hits inside that area known as the kitchen.

Medals will be awarded for the top three places in each division.

Middletown Pickleball Tournament

When: 8:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 6, and 8 a.m.; Saturday, Aug. 7
Where: Lefferson Park courts
Number of participants: 83
Divisions: Men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, wome's doubles and mixed doubles

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