Sergio picks pickleball over tennis and wins

Buboy “Boyaxs” Sergio receives his prizes, medal, and trophy after winning a YMCA pickleball tournament in Columbus, Mississippi earlier this month. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Buboy “Boyaxs” Sergio left Saipan three years ago and along with moving to the U.S. mainland, the 57-year-old apparently also traded in his tennis racket for a pickleball paddle.

The change in sports, however, seems to agree with the Bato, Camarines Sur in the Philippines native after the longtime CNMI resident won a YMCA pickleball tournament in Columbus, Mississippi earlier this month.

Sergio was part of a 14-player field in his division that played a round-robin format. He went on to win five games and totaled 65 points to rule his division as he barely beat the runner-up who had 64 points. The third place player got 58 points.
His most unforgettable shot of the tournament was when he hit the whiffle ball near the sideline and it barely stayed in to the amazement of everyone watching. Sergio said that kind of shot is customarily executed by pickleball pros in California.

The now Huntsville, Alabama resident said he doesn’t play tennis anymore as all the people in his area are seniors and no one really plays the sport anymore.

He said shifting to pickleball was hard at first because the plastic whiffle ball was hard to control and takes a lot of getting used to. After many months of practice and thanks to his very patient co-players, Sergio finally got the groove of playing the sport.

Before leaving the islands for good in July 2019, Sergio made the CNMI his second home for 30 years after coming to Saipan in July 1989. Prior to shifting to pickleball in the States, Sergio was best known as a tennis player on Saipan and he said his most unforgettable game was when he and partner Alex Martin won the doubles finals of a DFS Tennis Tournament against a doubles team from Guam.

Things he miss the most from this little dot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean are his Filipino, Chamoro, Carolinian, Chukees, and Palauan friends, the crystal clear ocean, the local food, Simbang Gabi and Tagalog Mass, beach parties, the Sabalu Market, Flame Tree Festival, and Liberation Day festivities.

“Take care always my kumpares and kumaires. Love your family and friends. Stay safe and always be in good health,” was Sergio’s message to his friends back on Saipan.

When not being a menace to opposing pickleball players at the local YMCA, Sergio works as a cable installer, a job that sometimes requires him to drive up to four hours a day.