If you heard a plunk around Downtown this weekend, it was probably Pickle in the Land, a two-day event that brought more than 600 participants to Huntington Convention Center from Dec. 15-17. Invented in 1965, this fast-rising game now has a following of nearly 5 million players nationwide. Before this, Cleveland Pickleball has hosted an amateur tournament with more than 100 attendees and a newsletter with 500-plus subscribers. This weekend, amateurs got to take on pros from the Major League Pickleball (MLP) and Professional Pickleball Association — including CJ Klinger, Andre Mick, Lina Padegimaite and Lacy Schneemann — on more than 30 courts at the Downtown event center. These Clevelanders and out-of-towners even got the chance to compete for a $25,000 prize. We sent photographer Matt Chasney to the court to check out all the pickle action. Here's what he saw.
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