A doubles team from Swift Current has medaled at the national pickleball championships.
Brad Boutilier and Devin Martens earned a silver medal on Tuesday afternoon in the men's doubles 30 and above category at the Winnipeg's 2025 Myoflex National Championship.
Boutilier said they were pleasantly surprised with their performance and thrilled to be on the podium holding the Saskatchewan flag.
"To be able to compete was really validating for us," he said. "Then to be able to get a medal was fantastic. The semi-final game felt important because if you win that and you guarantee yourself at least silver. It was a relief once we did that. Get to the final and it's nothing to lose."
The duo went 3-1 in round robin play, beating Graeme Fardoe and Brett Anderson, Nino Melo and Andrew Janz, and Stefan Fisette and Loic Mulaire. Their lone loss was to Rhoni Mohanraj and Cody Davis.
Martens and Boutilier beat Janz and Melo for a second time in the semi-finals, 15-7.
The gold medal match pitted them against Mohanraj and Davis in a best-of-three. The local pair fell 11-6 in both games.
"The team we came up against was super strong; we just couldn't figure out how to get by them," he said.
The Swift Current doubles pair has been playing together for about a year and won a provincial gold medal in June.
"A neat experience the last couple of years to go from beginner, starting, learning how to play, all the way up to winning a silver at nationals," he said.
Boutilier says they're planning on returning to provincials as a team in 2026 to defend their 2025 gold. The location of next year's national tournament will dictate whether they participate.