THE NORTH POLE - Ladies and gentlemen, elves and reindeer, the first annual North Pole Pickleball Tournament, powered by hot cocoa and Christmas cheer, is upon us.

Players from across the nation have traveled to the chilly, mountainous terrain of the North Pole to participate in historic singles matches.

Fan favorites from every classic Christmas cartoon are on-site, including The Grinch and Cindy Lou Who from Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Cindy Lou Who may appear to be sweet and kind, but word on the street is that she’s a bit of a firecracker on the court.

The Peanuts gang is here from A Charlie Brown Christmas, with No. 1 seed, Lucy van Pelt, expected to win the whole thing. Her little brother Linus is competing, too, though he might have some trouble with paddle testing since he reportedly wraps his paddle with his trusty blanket.

Charlie Brown and little sister, Sally Brown, are also taking part in the tournament, but we’re a little concerned for Sally after taking a look at the court map. Her court assignment is right next to Linus, and Sally tends to get distracted when Linus is within view. She’ll need to remain focused if she hopes to make it to the quarters.

The cast of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is well represented with Hermey the Elf barely squeaking into the bracket, but crowd favorite and No. 2 seed, Yukon Cornelius, has been hard at work preparing for the tournament. He’ll be fun to watch.

Show villain, The Abominable Snow Monster, is here to his bad reputation on the court. He’s a shoo-in to enjoy success thanks to his sheer size advantage and incredible reach. That yeti is a force.

Beloved snowman, Frosty, is on-site with sidekick, Karen, and their rival, Professor Hinkle. Love him or hate him, Hinkle’s a beast with his unpredictable gameplay, which often involves trick shots that are pure magic.

From Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, we’ve got two villains, Burgermeister Meisterburger and the Winter Warlock, though he’s rumored to be coming back around to the good side after receiving a Selkirk paddle for Christmas last year.

Finally, there's Kris Kringle himself, who's eager to showcase his skills.

The voice of Christmas pickleball is none other than, Sam the Snowman, and Schroder will DJ.

We’ve got a great day of matches ahead!

 

It’s already gotten competitive on the snowy courts.

As predicted, Lucy van Pelt dominated against the dentist elf. She even offered up some pyschiatric help for a quarter.

The standout match of the day was Abominable Snow Monster versus Pig-Pen.

The Abonimable dominated the first game, before Pig-Pen ran away with the second.

After a nail-biting back-and-forth contest, Pig-Pen was easily defeated, and Abominable let out a victorious screech following his victory.

For his part, Burgermeister Meisterbuger was quickly eliminated after tripping over a pickleball. Kris Kringle is onto the next round.

The Winter Warlock took out Karen 11-3, 11-3, and Cindy Lou Who downed Frosty.

As predicted, Sally Brown was too distracted by Linus and eventually fell to Yukon Cornelius.

After a quick hot chocolate break, we’re on to the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals

The biggest match is undoubtedly Kringle vs. Hinkle. Good versus evil. Father Christmas versus the guy who attempted to kill Frosty the Snowman. 

The fans were hoping for a Christmas miracle, but as Hinkle increased his lead and hit a couple of sneaky ATPs, poor Kris Kringle was knocked out of the bracket.

At least his wife, Jessica Claus, had some milk and cookies waiting on the sidelines. Hinkle’s definitely going to be on the naughty list after that match.

As expected, Yukon Cornelius and Lucy van Pelt made easy work of their formidable opponents to advance to the semis.

Another tense matchup involved Cindy Lou Who and The Grinch, who’ve previously been at odds with each other.

Cindy Lou Who got unlucky with a couple of bad line calls. The Grinch may have stolen Christmas last year, but after defeating Cindy, it looks like he could steal this tournament as well.

Semi-Finals

Lucy van Pelt arrived on center court with her ferocious attitude. She came to win. From the looks of it, this is her tournament to lose. After mastering her killer serve and landing a couple of Ernes, she dispatched Professor Hinkle with ease.

Master dinker Yukon Cornelius has been the pinnacle of consistency all tournament long, but The Grinch put up a nasty fight and won the first game 11-7. Cornelius came back with a vengeance, though, and showed The Grinch why he was such a high seed.

Following the loss, The Grinch’s heart shrunk two sizes.

Finals

Tensions are running high on Championship Sunday. 

Lucy van Pelt has bested her opponents with the trademark intensity she’s known for.

But, Yukon Cornelius looks strong out there with a methodical tempo that seems to catch Lucy by surprise. Yukon’s strategy knocks Lucy off balance and causes her to take a tumble.

The Peanuts characters cheer: “C’mon Lucy!”

Yukon has his supporters, too. Even Rudolf is blinking his bright red nose from the sidelines for encouragement.

Then, it’s match point. Yukon leads by two. Lucy looks winded and annoyed. She goes for a speed-up and Yukon matches it, slamming the ball down on the court. Lucy lunges to get it, but she’s too late. The ball’s in and she’s just a second too late.

Yukon lets out a victorious “Waaahooo!” as Lucy throws her paddle down on the icy ground, cracking it, and storming off.

We reached out for comment, but Lucy declined to respond.

The Champion

As DJ Schroder leads the crowd in a couple of Christmas carols, Yukon Cornelius receives his first gold medal - and he even scored sponsorship deals with JOOLA and FILA.

That marks the end of the inaugural North Pole Pickleball Tournament.

Yukon Cornelius is a deserving champion. He exemplifies hard work, dedication, and perseverance on the court. Congratulations, Yukon! We can’t wait to see you next year!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from pickleball.com.