Bermuda players are gearing up to take on the best in the world at the inaugural Pickleball World Cup in Lima, Peru.

The island is one of more than 30 countries taking part in the global event, with hundreds of athletes taking to the courts from Saturday to Monday, with the ultimate goal of having the right to be called world champions.

Speaking ahead of the start of the event, Bermudian players sound excited at what lies ahead for them in Peru, with the 14 players taking part in the tournament’s opening ceremony on Tuesday before playing in preparatory matches between Wednesday and Friday

Mark Cordeiro, 56, a former top tennis player on the island, is captain of the Bermuda seniors team,which is made up of players over the age of 50, and he believes they have a great chance of doing well.

“There is nothing better than representing the country,’’ Cordeiro said.

“I think we have a great chance in the over 50s. We have tennis players that have moved over to pickleball and because of the hybrid nature of both sports, they came with the skill set already.

“It’s just a matter of trying to construct the game itself and the biggest thing about my guys is that they can create points with no problems at all.

“Because some of us have already played internationally, we understand what is expected of us. Gavin [Manders] and I have seen this sort of level. We understand that we have to at least be competitive, not just go over there, enter the tournament and sit back.”

Michael Way, a former Bermuda No 1 and Davis Cup player, is thrilled to get a chance to fly the Bermudian flag at a global event.

“I’m just excited to be representing Bermuda at the Pickleball World Cup,’’ the 59-year-old said.

“What excites me is that we are playing countries with huge populations, so we’re looking forward to seeing how we stack up against them.

“In terms of preparations, we had official training sessions twice a week, which was great. I’m still playing tennis, too, which helps a lot with movement.”

Tori Powell fell in love with pickleball during the Covid-19 global pandemic and feels this is an opportunity to display to the world how the sport has grown on the island.

“We’re excited to represent Bermuda and show the effort that the Pickleball Association Bermuda has put into expanding the sport,’’ Powell said.

“Now we’re going out there to see where we are and what we can do against the best in the world.

“The preparation that we had as a team for this tournament has really helped a lot and I have seen a lot of improvement in my game.”

Sarah Fox, one of the individuals to have played a massive role in the growth of pickleball in Bermuda, expects the World Cup to be at a level she has never faced before.

At the beginning of this month, Fox, the PAB secretary, won a bronze medal with Sue Chiappa at the inaugural Association of Pickleball Players Women's Open in Columbus, Ohio.

“We would like to see how we match up against the rest of the world,’’ Fox said. “It’s going to be better than the APP tournament that we played in Ohio. That was a great tournament, but this is going to be unbelievable.”

Imani Phillips, the youngest female member of the team, is using the World Cup as a launch pad for her professional career.

The 22-year-old has plenty of plans post World Cup, as she takes the first steps to becoming a professional.

“The World Cup is going to be my first sanctioned tournament,” she said.

“It’s an opportunity for me to earn some points, so it’s probably the most important in my career thus far.

“I have a lot of tournaments lined up later, but the energy is different. I’m going to the World Cup with my whole team, people I train with every single day and we’ve all put in the work, so whatever happens we’re ready for it.”

“We’re all creating the path for other people. The goal’s always to win, but what’s more important is to get more people involved next time and become more competitive.”

George Thomas, one of the vice-presidents of PAB, applauded Gavin Manders, the association’s national director, for making it possible for Bermuda to be at the World Cup.

“All credit to Gavin because he used his connections as a former tennis player to get us this opportunity,’’ Thomas said.

“Had it not been for him, we wouldn't have known about this as an association. It’s a very important time for Bermuda and hopefully we can get people to come here in future.

“Pickleball is the kind of sport that can actually fill up hotel rooms during the off-season. One of the things that we’re working on with the Bermuda Hotel Association and the Bermuda Tourism Authority is promoting Bermuda as a pickleball destination, especially during the off-season.

“This is an incredible platform for us to go up against some of the top countries. Some of them don’t even know about Bermuda, but when we play against them, they’re going to know about us.”