Michal Cicvak made the most of a rare opportunity play pickleball rather than coach it at the club he runs by coming away from the Skechers English Open with two medals.

The 41-year-old, who is originally from Kosice in Slovakia, runs Game Set Match at the John Charles Centre for Sports in South Leeds and holds sessions for tennis and pickleball, the latter being one of the fastest growing sports in the world.

Cicvak began a successful weekend at the Telford International Centre by being involved in one of the event’s best matches when he defeated India’s Himanshu Dewaskar 11-8 3-11 12-10 in an epic final of the men’s 4.5 35+ singles.

He then added a silver medal to his collection alongside Nathan Hill in the men’s 4.5 35+ doubles as they reached the final before being beaten 11-1 7-11 11-2 by Spaniards Daniel Almenar and Sergio Rojo.

Leeds' Cicvak said: “I felt really, really tired [after my singles final], but it was worth it.

“I played with Himanshu last year and lost in the group stage against him, this year I managed to beat him in the group and I’ve beaten him in the final, so definitely a much stronger, better performance from me.

“I was unbeaten in the singles – I didn’t lose any matches in the round robin, so it was solid.

“The last point of the match is always the hardest. You can win the first set, you can lose the second and then you are fighting.

“I was winning the third and then he came back, because he is a fighter, then at 10-6 I had a few championship points, I overhit a few balls out and a few let calls, which kind of upset me, but I hung in there and I’m really happy I pulled through.”

The 2024 English Open was the largest pickleball event to take place outside of North America, with a record number of almost 2,000 players from 42 countries set to participate.

Over 30,000 people around the UK now play the sport and there are over 700 places in which to play, with pickleball displaying an exponential growth in recent years.

Due to being ‘busy with life,’ Cicvak has only competed at the Nationals and the English Open in the past year, although he does run tournaments with Game Set Match.

On how he set up the club, he said: “I was really driven to start something in Leeds.

“We were the first club in Leeds and now we have maybe 300 players.

“My workplace wasn’t really interested in taking pickleball on because we were still rebuilding after Covid, so I took a leap of faith with pickleball and set up Game Set Match.

“I run tennis through it but it’s mainly a programme for pickleball to get people playing and to grow the game from the grassroots.”

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