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

Retail manager Stephens, 49, 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 got introduced to pickleball by my sister-in-law, who lives in Canada. I just went there, played once and loved it, and I’ve been playing ever since then,” said Nuneaton's Stephens.

“This is the third English Open I’ve been to and this is by far the biggest one – last year was quite big, there was the same set-up, but I think this is bigger.

“This is for seven days and last year was just for five days and people would stay quite late, until 10 o’clock, playing.

“I knew the sport in the States and in Canada was massive, but I think compared to a few years ago a lot of people have been getting into pickleball in England.”

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 had more courts being built around the country, so that’s good, and I find myself playing against more people,” added Stephens.

“The standard is getting better and better as well – not as good as in America – but you can see, compared to a couple of years ago, it’s much higher.”

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