Simon Winfield starred in an historic week for pickleball at a record-breaking Skechers English OPEN.

Retired software engineer, 62, featured in the English Open at the Telford International Centre – the largest pickleball event taking place outside of North America.

With ages from 7 to 70+ competing, the event is reflective of the incredible growth in pickleball over recent years, with a record number of almost 2,000 players from 42 countries participating in a sport which has aspirations of making the Olympic programme.

“I had no idea how pickleball was growing when I started playing about four years ago because it was quite a small club at the time,” said Letchworth's Winfield.

“We only had about 30 members, now we’ve got about 160 members, so it’s been quite a big change in the last three or four years.

“I’m a treasurer at the club now, so I’ve got involved heavily and we’re getting through about £20,000 a year, so there’s a lot of money involved now.”

This year’s English OPEN comprised seven days of high-level competition, with the world’s top professionals from America, Europe and Asia taking to the court in singles, doubles, mixed, wheelchair and junior events.

A hybrid of tennis, badminton & table tennis, the sport’s popularity has been attributed to its accessibility. Easy to pick up and fun to play, the sport’s accessibility transcends demographics, providing it with universal appeal.

“We’ve done the Open for a couple of years now and we’ve noticed that the standard is going up and up,” added Winfield.

“The numbers have gone up as well – they spread it over six or seven days now, whereas before I think was over two or three days, so next year God knows what it’s going to be like.

“It was quite daunting even last year, it’s quite a big event.

“We’ve got used to it a bit now, but last year was a big change for us.”

Pickleball England has announced a record number of players competing at this year’s English OPEN from the 8th-14th August at the Telford International Centre in the largest pickleball event taking place outside of the USA EVER – visit pickleballengland.org