An Austrian delegation participated in the Hungarian Open Pickleball Championship in Dabas, near Budapest: Barbara and Sven Szabo as well as Jessie and Yang Dai. Men’s and women’s doubles were played on Friday, singles on Saturday and mixed doubles on Sunday. Yang Dai and Sven Szabo took silver in the men’s intermediate class. In the mixed doubles 55+ category Intermediate Plus, Jessie Dai and Yang Dai captured bronze. In the mixed doubles 19+ intermediate, Barbara and Sven Szabo missed out on the bronze medal; they finished fourth.

First International Pickleball Tournament

“We liked it in Hungary, we could also take a little relaxing holiday beside playing the tournament. I’m satisfied with our results – for the first participation in an international pickleball tournament,” said the two-time medalist Yang Dai, who also critisized: “Our result could have been better, I think. The computer system for the results wasn’t really transparent.”

Participant Barbara Szabo praised the organizers: “The organization was great. I think there were players from twelve nations there. Some even came from America. The tennis hall was redesigned with nine pickleball courts and was even air-conditioned. Our welcome gift was one bag with a T-shirt and muesli bars. On Saturday evening there was a joint dinner in the forecourt of the hall with goulash and another typical Hungarian dish and of course pickles were a must.”

Results: Pickleball.global
Pictures provided by the players.