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

Allan, 70, who ran his own music company prior to retirement, 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.

“During Covid, we found out that there was a tennis club in Hoddesdon that had some courts free and available that were not being used and we developed those courts,” said Hertford's Allan.

“These courts hadn’t been in use for 25 years and they had a lot of growth, a lot of rubbish, so we spent our time in groups of six clearing them out and we developed our own pickleball courts and started playing.

“I’d been playing tennis for about 40 years, but you get to a certain age where your limbs and your bones and your muscles just don’t work the same, and I was fed up with hobbling home at the end of a tennis match, so I found pickleball.”

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.

“Before this (Telford), we played in Southampton and they had about 450-500 people, then the next year we came here and there was 1,000 and now this year we’ve got 2,000,” added Allan.

“But it’s so good to see the people that you meet on your travels and you meet up with them again, it’s great fun.”

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