Anna Bright is a beloved pro, but her mom has become a fan favorite on the pro tour as well. Liping Bright travels to Anna’s tournaments to cheer her on courtside, sells merch from her Pickle Peacock store, and spark so much joy on tour, you’ll leave feeling like you’ve made a pickleball best friend for life. Liping has become a legend in pro pickleball.

At the Opendoor Pickleball World Championships, Liping got to play women’s doubles with her daughter in the split pro age division – and the pickleball world loved it.

Ahead of the world championships, Bright revealed on her podcast with Kate Fahey that she was playing with her mom.

Bright estimated that her mom’s DUPR is a 3.7 and Liping was a little nervous playing with her pro athlete daughter. But when it came time to play, these two were ready to compete.

Unfortunately, they lost in a tight match against Tina Pisnik and Julie Johnson. But the Bright women secured a win against Aila Main and Mya Bui.

“It was super fun and special to my mom and I. I’m really glad we were able to get a win against a really solid team,” said Bright.

“The videos kind of speak for themselves. She’s so cute. And I already made the joke that it’s only Monday of Worlds and we’ve already had the performance of the tournament from Liping Bright so I really don’t know what the rest of us are playing,” said Bright.

Bright revealed how much she enjoyed playing split age because she gets to play a more aggressive left side role. In mixed doubles, Bright has been the recipient of “highlight reels” where her mixed partner Hayden Patriquin plays a dominant point and Bright doesn’t even get to hit the ball.

But – that’s the name of the game. Especially for mixed doubles. And getting to play that more aggressive style on the left is a fun switch up for Bright.

“I love playing split age. I find it incredibly fun, especially for women. We get to play kind of a novel style. I never thought I’d be on the opposite end of the ‘let your partner play’ discourse. I’m seeing a lot of comments of people saying that this is how I want my mixed partner to play, and they’re talking about me,” said Bright.

“I’m doing my best impression of a 4.8 male playing mixed,” said Bright on her Instagram story.

But nevertheless, it was special for Bright to play alongside her mom. And Liping even scored a highlight reel from Instagram humor page, @memesofpickleball. 

The cherry on top was their matching Pickle Peacock shirts and pink hair bows. This women’s doubles duo was dressed for success.

But what warmed my heart was seeing the pure joy radiating from Liping as she played next to Anna at the biggest tournament of the year. This will certainly go down as a special memory for the Bright girls.   

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