After a successful participation in the 2024 Asia Pickleball Open, the stars of the Lucena City Pickleball Club remain hungry for more international glory.
LCPC coach Karl Zoleta said they are set to face stronger, more experienced foes when they campaign in the Asia Open Pickleball Championship in Ho Chi Minh City from 30 April to 4 May.
The LCPC bets are oozing with confidence after making a strong impression in the previous continental event held at the Thanyapura Sports and Health Center in Phuket, Thailand over the weekend.
Bien Zoleta, a Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in soft tennis, partnered with American Yanhua Hawkins to cop a bronze medal in the women’s doubles events 4.5 category following a 21-8 win over the South Korean pair of Juhyun Lee and Jiyong Seo.
Then, Bien joined Zoleta in bagging the bronze medal in the mixed doubles 35+ event after beating Grace Woo and Christian Ian Alcazar, 21-16, in an all-Filipino showdown.
Prior to that, Dr. Odilon Tayag and John Eric Buhay pocketed a silver medal after losing to the Australian pair of Clayton Westwood and Marc Kohnertz, 8-21, in the final of the men’s doubles 3.5 event.
Zoleta said they are far from done as they are determined to see action in the Vietnam event pending the schedule of his daughter, Gaby Zoleta, with College of Saint Benilde in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
“They could team up in Vietnam. I am just waiting for Gaby’s schedule. This could be the first time they will be in one team,” said Zoleta, excited over the possibility of having Gaby teaming up with Bambi in the prestigious Vietnam event.
In fact, Bambi, also a Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, was supposed to join them but she left for Sri Lanka to coach three young tennis players in the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Asia Oceania Pre-Qualifying event last 12 to 18 February.
Zoleta added that his sister, Bien, was also given clearance by the national team to cross-train in pickleball, which gave them a handsome shot at winning.
“Since the strokes in pickleball and soft tennis are the same, she (Bien) was given permission to play.”
