Team Velaris completes golden sweep, books PCL Asia Grand Finals berth

Team Velaris defeated SABR 23-21 at Pickletown in Davao City to win the Pickleball Champions League Rising Stars U19 sectional, claiming an automatic berth to the PCL Asia Grand Finals on Hainan Island scheduled for April. The final concluded Sunday, March 1, 2026, with the four-player Velaris lineup sealing the marquee victory and the sectional crown.

The 23-21 gold-medal match was a tight, championship-clinching performance dominated by extended rallies, sharp cross-court dinks and pressure-packed third-shot drops. Shesha Bree Biñas and Chrystelle Marjh Elisan focused on the soft game, using steady dinks and sharp net play to win long rallies and set points. Izzy Lacida and Jacob Cagas mixed powerful drives with precise third-shot drops and closed crucial points with confident volleys to finish rallies and preserve the lead late.

Velaris capped the weekend by completing what outlets described as a “golden sweep” of the youth doubles events at Pickletown during Pickle Fest 2026. Several reports frame that sweep as victories across men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles; other accounts specify wins in women’s and men’s doubles plus two mixed doubles events. The consistent throughline is that Velaris won every youth doubles discipline contested in the sectional, a clean performance that stamped their dominance in the showcase event.

Beyond the trophy, Velaris secured material and logistical support for the Grand Finals. The Asia Elite Pickleball Academy awarded the team a US$1,000 development grant, roughly PHP 57,000, and the players received paddles, balls and official apparel. PCL Asia will shoulder airfare, local transportation and accommodations for the qualifiers bound for Hainan, removing a major barrier to competing internationally.

Runner-up SABR finished with silver; its roster listed Rose Lieryanne Bacaron, Samanthan Abes, Alva Bual and Aljamier Usman. Bronze went to Pickle Homies, whose lineup included Mervic Indagacan, Jenny Tolentino, Rojin Tagimalay and Jipoy Gildore. In other age-group finals at Pickletown, Jin Hernandez and Robert Nobleza won the 20+ men’s doubles 15-8, Juan Carlo Pantua and Aldrin Quintero captured the 35+ men’s doubles 11-4, Patricia Adaza and Macy Serrano took the 35+ women’s doubles 11-6, and Pantua teamed with Adaza to win the open mixed doubles 11-4.

With the April Grand Finals on Hainan now the immediate target, Velaris arrives not only with gold medals and gear but with funded travel and a development grant designed to accelerate training and international exposure. Their performance in Davao — tactical precision at the net from Biñas and Elisan and heavy-hitting, tempo-setting work from Lacida and Cagas — establishes Velaris as a youth unit to watch when Asia’s qualifiers convene in China next month.