WELCOME to the 2026 SA Doubles Challenge!
SouthWest Suns Pickleball Club are hosting this exclusively doubles tournament being held over 3 days from Friday 9th October to Sunday 11th October.
There are 16 outdoor courts - 12 with designated pickleball court markings with the potential to run 10 courts under lights. The clubrooms offer a cafe, bar and change room facilities with shower.
This is a Pickleball Australia SANCTIONED tournament using the GPF Official Rules of Pickleball and is an Australian Rankings tournament. Players can gain Australian Ranking (AR) points by entering specific events, signified by (AR) in the event title.
Only members of Pickleball SA, Pickleball Australia, or an affiliated club may enter.
For the first time in SA, we are offering a tournament that includes juniors!
(Note: All players must be members of Pickleball South Australia (https://www.pickleballsouthaustralia.org/membership/register-or-renew)
A Pickleball.com profile is required. https://pickleball.com/ and must include a contact name and telephone number.
If you have not competed in a tournament before, you will need to self-rank (at the very bottom of the “profile” page on Pickleball.com)
If you are unsure of your skill level, you can make an assessment here https://usapickleball.org/skill-level/
Be aware that in doubles events the skill level is always based on the rating of the player in the pair with the highest DUPR.
The official tournament ball is Franklin outdoor ball.
KEY DETAILS
Registration:
Registrations close on the 25th September at midnight ACST.
You will be placed on a waitlist if your partner does register within 7 days of your registration.
If you do not have a partner, search under 'Players Needing Partners' tab on the tournament homepage.
Register in a bracket according to your DUPR at the time of registration but be aware that should your DUPR change you may be assigned to a new bracket according to your DUPR at registration close.
The tournament organiser and director reserve the right to change/merge/split skill level or age divisions or to move players into event categories different to the ones in which they entered, to facilitate the smooth running of the tournament. (You may be moved down an age bracket or up a skill set.)
Fees:
Senior Early Bird Registration (Closes 11:59pm 13 August 2026) - $70 entry fee [includes first event], then $20 per additional event.
Senior General Registration (Closes 11:59pm 25th September 2026) - $80 entry fee [includes first event], then $20 per additional event.
Junior General Registration (Closes 11:59pm 25th September 2026) - $20 entry fee [includes first event], then $5 per additional event.
A non-refundable service fees apply to all registrations.
Juniors and seniors may enter 2 events on Friday.
Seniors may also enter 1 gender doubles on Saturday and 1 mixed doubles event on Sunday.
BRACKETS
- Junior categories are 14 and under, 15 to 18.
- Junior categories are not gender specific.
- Age categories are Under 14, 15-18, Open, 19+, 35+, 50+, 60+, 65+ and 70+
- Adult players of an older age can enter a lower age group event.
- Adult skill categories include 2.99 and below, 3.0 to 3.49, 3.5 to 3.99, 4.0 and above
- Players of a lower skill can enter a higher skill category.
- We are also offering a Junior/Senior bracket where one player is 18 or under, the other is 19 or above.
-In Gender and Mixed doubles, we are offering a "Split age" Bracket, 1 player < 50, 1 player 50 +.
- In Gender and Mixed doubles, for players with a DUPR 2.99 and below, we are also offering age <50 and 50 + brackets
- We also have a Hybrid (1 Parapickleballer), Any gender, Any Age, Any skill (total DUPR <7.0) bracket
- Players are guaranteed three games in each event.
- Medals will be awarded to gold, silver and bronze winning competitors for each bracket.
Brackets with 3 teams will play to 21 win by 2. 1st seed will progress to the final (best of 3 games to 11, win by 2), seeds 2 and 3 will play off to join them. Play-off game to 21 win by 2.
Brackets with 4 or 5 teams will play to 15 win by 2. 1st and 2nd seeds play for Gold/Silver, 3rd & 4th seeds play for bronze (finals best of 3 games to 11, win by 2),
Brackets with 6 or 7 teams will play to 11 win by 2. 1st and 2nd seeds play for Gold/Silver, 3rd & 4th seeds play for bronze (finals best of 3 games to 11, win by 2),
Brackets with 8 or more teams will play in pools, with the round robin games as above, according to the numbers in each pool
ALL FINALS will be best of 3 games first to 11, win by 2
Paddles
All paddles in PA Sanctioned events must be either USAPA https://equipment.usapickleball.org/paddle-list/
or UPA-A approved https://upaa.unitedpickleball.com/approved-paddles/
It is recommended that you check your paddle on one of these sites and take a screenshot or photo showing approval.
Tournament Staff
Tournament co-ordinator: Simon Macklin
Tournament Directors: Deanna Schillabeer and Ebony Harper
Tournament Head Referee: TBC
Tournament Lead Volunteer: TBC
Pickleball South Australia thanks SouthWest Suns for making their club available for this tournament.
We thank our Pickleball Australia sponsors: Acuvue, Collette, Dominator Sports, DUPR, Franklin and California Sport Surfaces for their support
We thank our Pickleball South Australia sponsors: Kurmiss Orthopaedics, Pickleball Mania and Salming for their support.
We thank all our referees and volunteers, who are essential for the running of this tournament.
If you have questions, please click on 'Contact Tourney'. Questions will be answered by email.
