In a scintillating final at the Queensland Pickleball Slam, Bondi Pickleball Club toppled Sydney Smash 3–2, delivering a masterclass in composure and clutch play under pressure.
The scoreline tells the story: Bondi seized both opening doubles matches, with Roos van Reek / Kat Westbury starting strong in women’s doubles 21-18 and Max Manthou / Louis Laville doing the same in men’s doubles. Smash fought back in mixed with Captain Mitch Hargreaves showing faith in Enggwon Kim/ Yufei Long to get them back into the match. He then followed up the feat combining brilliantly with Bee Massih to force the match to a DreamBreaker. Bondi’s resilience showed through and when it came to the one on one battle they came out on top, sealing the DreamBreaker 21-15 and the QLD Slam Title. It was the third DreamBreaker of the weekend for Bondi, showing that there are teams ready to knock them off their perch come next event.
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This victory propels Bondi upwards in the overall team standings, sharpening their quest for MLPA supremacy. Smash remain dangerous, but Bondi’s surge is now impossible to ignore.
On the individual front, the QLD Slam has also shaken up the player leaderboard significantly. The top 5 from this event 1. Mitchell Hargreaves (Smash), 2 Roos van Reek (Bondi), 3. Lauren Mercado (Rush), 4. Lucas Pascoe (Rush) and 5. Eunggwon Kim (Smash) have all made strong statements this event, bolstering their positions in the season-long rankings.
Bondi’s win isn’t just another trophy, it’s a demonstration of momentum. With two events still on the calendar, this result gives them both confidence and a points buffer heading into the next showdown. For Smash, the loss stings, but their ability to force close games under pressure suggests they’ll be in the mix as long as they keep up this level of play and it holds their spot in 2nd overall.
The tour now heads south to the state of Victoria, where teams will battle it out at Dinx Pickleball in Geelong from 24-26 of October.
