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

Daniel, 61, who founded Grimsby Pickleball, 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.

“There was nothing around where we were, so my husband said: ‘Why don’t you have a go and set something up?’” said Grimsby's Daniel.

“I went and did the leaders course with Sam Basford and we set it up, we did a taster event to see how it went.

“We got about 25-30 people, everyone was keen, we set up one session a week and we’re now doing five.

“We probably regularly see 80-90 people a week and then on our books we’ve probably got about 175, so it’s gone crazy.”

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.

“My first reaction when I got here was ‘wow’. I played in the ladies’ doubles on Monday, my son and a friend of his did the 18+ singles last Friday and they did the doubles as well, and they came away with medals, so that was fantastic,” added Daniel.

“We also decided to give the singles a go – we never play singles in this sport usually, so my partner and I from Monday [Pauline Drew] came along and gave it a go.”

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