Tina Lucas in an historic week for pickleball at a record-breaking Skechers English OPEN.

Retired mental health nurse Lucas, 58, 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 a friend who played tennis, and we play in the seniors’ ITF Masters tour, and he talked to me about pickleball,” said Crowthorne's Lucas.

“I’d never heard of it, so that was about two years ago, and it just grabbed my interest.

“I went home, found out about it, decided to look it up on the internet and see where I could play near me, and there was a u3a group that did pickleball, so I joined that to begin with and they introduced me to the Runnymede Royals.

“I joined their club, which is a virtual club, and I could go along to sessions that they organised in my area.”

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.

“The event here is incredible, I’m absolutely blown away by it,” added Lucas.

“It’s the first pickleball tournament I’ve entered, so it’s all new to me and it’s great, I love it.

“I had a scratch partner in the ladies’ doubles, she was from Glasgow, and I’ve played mixed and singles, so it’s very busy and quite fast-paced.

“I’ve made a lot of friends from other clubs from around the country, so that’s good.”

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