Livingston Team Competes in Pickleball Tournament

Memorial Day weekend of 2022 has become a milestone weekend for the Livingston pickleball community. Members of the Livingston pickleball team participated in the Franklin NYC Open at the USTA Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. A total of 1,152 players registered in the tournament from multiple states to compete in a variety of categories, including men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles, and singles for different age and skill categories.Vishal Talreja and Sanjeev Balu of the Livingston team played in the amateur men’s doubles 3.5:35+ category. A total of 22 players on 11 teams participated in this category and played in a double elimination format. Talreja and Balu won all of their league matches and took place in the final, defeating Livingston’s Bolivar Bermeo and Enfry Mendez with a 11-7, 15-13 score. Talreja and Sanjeev were awarded the “Golden Ticket” for their tournament win to play in the U.S. Nationals tournament, which will be played in Indian Wells, California November 5 through 13.Talreja also participated in mixed doubles with Liby Saigal. The pair took first place in that category and and received their own “Golden Ticket” for the Nationals.In addition, Talreja secured a sec-ond place silver medal in the men’s singles category.“Pickleball is a very popular sport in the community among adults,” noted team member Abhishek Gangwal.“They play competitive games very regularly at Heritage Middle school during non-school hours. Vishal and Sanjeev are working with high school students to promote games among students, and are planning Skill Clinics, friendly tournaments, family events for the pickleball community during summer.”Both Talreja and Balu noted they are “grateful to the Township of Livingston for introducing the game a couple of years ago and providing a venue for so many of us to play and learn and grow together in the sport of pickleball.”