2026 Hawaii Pickleball Open® Singles Championship Recap
Thirty players competed across five singles divisions in March 2026. Severe weather created last-minute challenges, but the event moved indoors, brackets were adjusted, and the full tournament was completed.
Historical recap updated September 2026
Lauren and I wanted to create a tournament where singles was the entire focus rather than one small division inside a larger doubles event. Singles asks different questions of a player: movement, conditioning, serve-and-return quality, passing shots, and decision-making without a partner covering half the court.
Why We Ran a Singles-Only Event
Players had been asking for more singles competition, so we decided to test the idea. We did not know how many people would register, but 30 players across five categories was enough to create a competitive one-day event and learn what we would want to improve in future singles tournaments.
Weather Almost Changed Everything
The week of the tournament brought heavy rain, strong winds, flooding, and power outages across Oʻahu. We had already decided to move indoors, but the gym itself lost power shortly before the event.
Power returned early enough for us to proceed. A few players were unable to travel because of conditions, which meant several brackets had to be adjusted right before play began. Once the first matches started, the event settled down and ran on schedule.
2026 Singles Championship Results
🥈 Max Tavepholhalern
🥉 Matteo Odone
🥈 Connor Lopes
🥉 Jerry Woo
🥈 Kandee Almond
🥉 Kaulana Kanno
🥈 Eric Uyeda
🥉 Dominik Hroch
🥈 Dominik Hroch
🥉 David Doi
What We Learned
- Singles players value a format that guarantees meaningful match play.
- Indoor backup planning matters when Hawaiʻi weather becomes unpredictable.
- Brackets need enough flexibility to handle late withdrawals.
- Singles creates a different tournament atmosphere from doubles and attracts players who specifically enjoy that challenge.
What Happened After This Event?
The older article promoted the summer 2026 Mixed and Doubles Championships as upcoming events. Those dates have now passed, so that call-to-action was removed.
The Hawaii Pickleball Open® continued through 2026, including the August 29–30 tournament at King Intermediate with more than 100 players across 10 courts. For current dates, always use the live tournament calendar rather than an old recap.
