THE Philippines will be entering the Pickleball World Cup with high expectations as the tournament kicks off from August 30 to September 6 in Da Nang, Vietnam.
With an expanded five divisions this time around and a loosened Open Division, a record 38 athletes will represent the Philippine flag in every division, nearly a quintuple of last year’s eight representatives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
With the removal of the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR) system, the Philippine Pickleball Federation has now tapped high-level netters transitioning into the sport, giving them the leeway to strengthen their squad entering the tournament.
Bannering the team is Leander Lazaro and Sarah Jane Lim-Narvasa, two of the highest-ranked racket sport athletes in the country.
“All eyes are on the Philippines right now, because we are the nation that has the fastest-growing number of players,” said Philippine Pickleball Federation President Sherry Cu at a Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday.
Lazaro will be joined by multi-time PCA Open lawn tennis champion Johnny Arcilla, Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Ruben Gonzales, former lawn tennis standout Nik Isagan and Patrick Mendoza.
Meanwhile, Lim-Narvasa will be in the company of longtime lawn tennis fixtures Fatima Amirul, Lauren Mercado, Medelene Ramos-Saraza, and former US NCAA Division 1 tennis player Kelsey Laurente.
“They want to see what the Philippine team can bring. And definitely, many of them will be surprised as to how we will perform. Definitely, we will be aiming for a very memorable finish,” Cu added.
The inaugural 8-man squad gutted through a Round of 16 finish in their first soiree at Florida. For this cup, the Philippines will start out 12th in the rankings, with the top-seed going to host nation Vietnam and #2 going to 2025 champion United States.
Lithuania, Argentina, and Armenia will be our opponents for the Open Division seeding under Group I.
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