Telford International Centre has not only played host to the biggest English Open yet but also its most multi-national, as pickleball continues to take hold around the world.

In total, 42 nations were represented among the close to 2,000 people who took part across the seven days of high-level competition.

Naturally, there was a large travelling group from the birthplace of pickleball, the United States, with professional players making their way across the Atlantic to participate in the largest event outside of their home country.

Adding to the pool of talent that was on show was 20-year-old Jack Munro, from Austin, Texas, and one of the highly promising NextGen players to add their quality to the Open tournaments.

At 12 years of age, Munro became the youngest 5.0-rated player ever and his ability to play off either hand has helped turn him into one of the rising stars of the sport.

On what was his second English Open experience, Munro said: “I think one of the most important things for us is to see how the sport is growing internationally and how the competition is turning out.

“So much is different to when I started out as a kid because back then there was no such thing as pros. Starting out, it was just people doing this as a hobby.

“Paddle technology has also seen a big improvement as well as the sentiment towards the sport.

“In middle school I used to get bullied for playing the sport, now the same people call me and they’re my friends telling me how they’re playing pickleball, so the sentiment has completely changed.”

Playing against American opponents was one of things that brought Karolina Owczarek, a 26-year-old PHD student in political science from Poznan, Poland, to the English Open.

Owczarek, who is also a tennis coach, is helping the sport to grow in her country as co-owner of Wielkopolski Pickleball and her visit to Telford is only her second international tournament.

She said: “My first was the Belgian Open, but this is definitely bigger. I was surprised by how many people were here.

“I’ve enjoyed playing against players from other countries a lot.

“I came here with the mindset that I wanted to get experience with international players, also with the Americans because there are quite a lot of them here and I’m happy to play against them.

“I can see how much the sport has grown and I can see how it’s growing in Poland, and I’m really happy with that.”

Another young player from Europe making his way in the sport and enjoying the English Open experience was 22-year-old accountant Theo Patel, who has made the journey up from the sunny climes of Nice, France.

“I played here last year and it was tough – I was in the Open categories too – but this is definitely bigger than last year,” Patel said.

“There has been so many people and a lot of players who have increased the level [of competition], so it’s amazing.

“For me, the biggest tournament I played in before this year was in India – that was really big, but in England you have more players and it’s more competitive.

“I think getting into the sport three years ago was a perfect time for me and I think it’s going to be a big sport in a few years.”

Roos van Reek is another player making an impression who was born in Europe, Oostvoorne in the Netherlands to be precise, but the 23-year-old has since made a life for herself on Australia’s Gold Coast as a tennis coach.

It was also Down Under where Van Reek discovered pickleball, which is a rapidly growing influence in Australia.

Van Reek said on her first English Open: “It’s insane how many courts there are. I think on Monday they set it all up and in two days they made all those courts, so it’s insane how much work has been done.

“It’s actually funny because my parents came [over] from the Netherlands just to watch me playing in this tournament.

“I don’t see them that often, so it’s cool and amazing to have them with me here.

“In Australia, pickleball is big, a lot of international people are coming over there, but no-one from Europe, so it’s cool to get my name out a little bit closer to home.”

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