5 pickleball players from the Isle of Wight travelled up to Bolton Sports Arena last weekend to take part in the English Pickleball National Championships.
Sarah Howell from Yarmouth and Andy Hill from Poole won gold in the over 50s mixed doubles, category 4.0, convincingly beating Sharon Tinsley and Owen Budd in the final 11-7, 11-4; the winning pair didn’t lose a single game throughout the competition.
There were 26 pairs in their category and over 1,100 competitors taking part over the 4-day tournament.
Sarah has said:
“I have come so close…and to win gold at such a high level is a huge achievement for me.”
Islander Tom Turney partnered Ben Cawston to reach the final of the Men’s open doubles competition, to lose to the experienced partnership and Number 1 seeds, Louis Laville and James Chaudry.
Tom also took a silver medal in the mixed doubles final, partnered with Molly Odonoghue.
Both Tom and Sarah play pickleball at West Wight Sports Centre which has become a Mecca for the game on the Island.
Kay Montagu, the sports centre pickleball instructor, who also took part in the tournament says:
“This is a fantastic achievement for the Isle of Wight to have come back with 3 medals in the national championships especially when the standard of pickleball is improving all the time with lots of young players getting involved in the game.”
