Israel’s pickleball team made an impressive international debut, earning one gold and two silver medals at the Pickleball World Cup in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as reported by the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).
Before the event, the young national team questioned whether it could compete with the world’s best-but quickly proved it could. Team captain Adam Bachmann won Israel’s first medal, a silver in the Over-35 Men’s Singles (DUPR 4.5+).
Yaniv Semo and Adi Berman added another silver in the U35 Mixed Doubles, and Berman went on to claim gold in the Over-35 Women’s Singles-Israel’s first international title.
Israel’s senior squad (Over-50) reached the quarterfinals undefeated, losing only to eventual champions, the United States. In the team event, Israel stunned defending champion Puerto Rico in a seven-game thriller but narrowly missed advancing due to point differentials.
“This was one of the Cinderella stories of the tournament,” said national coach David Abel, praising the support and excitement surrounding the team.
More than 3,500 players from 68 countries competed in the weeklong event at The Fort, a new complex in Fort Lauderdale. Though pickleball is still new in Israel, the team’s strong debut shows promising growth. “An unforgettable debut filled with passion, sportsmanship and pride,” the team said in a statement. “We return home with medals, memories and momentum.”