Five pickleball players from the Isle of Wight travelled up to Bolton Sports Arena last weekend, to take part in the English Pickleball National Championships.
Sarah Howell from Yarmouth and Andy Hill from Poole won gold in the over 50s mixed doubles, category 4.0, convincingly beating Sharon Tinsley and Owen Budd in the final, 11-7, 11-4; the winning pair didn’t lose a single game throughout the competition.
There were 26 pairs in their category and over 1100 competitors taking part over the four day tournament.
Howell: A huge achievement for me
Sarah said,
“I have come so close…and to win gold at such a high level is a huge achievement for me.”
Islander Tom Turney partnered Ben Cawston to reach the final of the Men’s open doubles competition, to lose to the experienced partnership and No.1 seeds, Louis Laville and James Chaudry.
Tom also took a silver medal in the mixed doubles final, partnered with Molly Odonoghue.
West Wight Sports Centre
Both Tom and Sarah play pickleball at West Wight Sports Centre which has become a Mecca for the game on the Island; Kay Montagu, the sports centre pickleball instructor, who also took part in the tournament said,
“This is a fantastic achievement for the Isle of Wight to have come back with three medals in the national championships especially when the standard of pickleball is improving all the time with lots of young players getting involved in the game.”
News shared by Paul, in his own words. Ed
