Local pickleball players Simon Proffitt and Sarah Howell won gold in ‘The end of 2024 Pickleball event’ held at David Lloyd Southampton last month.
They competed in the over 50 mixed doubles 4.5 event, which attracted in-excess of 500 competitors over the weekend, resulting in a high standard of play.
With 9 teams in their group, and played on a round-robin basis. Simon and Sarah made the semi-final playoff, where they convincingly beat the pair who were the favourites in the group round, Kat Jelly and Stephen Lucas 11-5.
In the final, which was best of 3 games, they beat Phil Hoad and Anna Prestwich, 11-3, 11-5.
Simon said:
“This win is particularly poignant for me as it was an intensive competition and my fitness level has not recovered from having radiotherapy for prostate cancer, so I was extremely pleased with our performance.
This is Sarah’s 3rd gold medal this season from recent mixed and women’s doubles successes in the English Nationals and pre European tournaments. Both players play regularly at West Wight Sports Centre.
