City hosts first European Pickleball Championships

Teams from 24 countries, including England, will be competing at the Southampton Tennis Centre

A Hampshire city is preparing for the opening ceremony of the inaugural European Pickleball Team Championships this weekend.

Teams from 24 countries, including England, will be competing at the Southampton Tennis Centre on 23 and 24 November.

The racket sport is a hybrid of badminton, tennis and table tennis, which sees players compete using paddles and a plastic ball.

President of the European Pickleball Federation Frank Arico said its growing popularity had gone beyond their "wildest expectations".

British pickleball player James Chaudry, from Southampton, said it was "a great honour" to represent his country

The sport started out as a yard game played in America, where it is currently the fastest growing sport.

Pickleball England has reported seeing a 65% year over year increase in membership.

It is also loved by celebrities across the globe.

More than 600 players will take part in the European Championships and the event will include all teams marching into the venue behind their countries’ flags as part of the opening ceremony.

Mr Arico said that when organisers had started preparations in January, they had been wondering "whether we would get five countries or so".

"And we've ended up with 24 - absolutely amazing, beyond all our wildest expectations."

He said the factors that made people love the sport included its "universality", health benefits, easy rules, openness to all ages and "easy, inexpensive equipment and courts".

"In America there are about 35 million players."

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Pickleball is a hybrid of badminton, tennis and table tennis which sees players compete using paddles and a plastic ball

Top British pickleball player James Chaudry, 33, from Southampton, has been selected as part of Team England.

He will be competing in the Men's & Mixed Doubles, alongside other top English players.

"It is a great honour to represent your country in any event," he said.

"And in a growing sport, to be one of the early ones in the team, setting the standards and hopefully paving the way for future generations reps on the country, is a really exciting thing to be a part of."

Another England Pickleball player, Thaddea Lock, said she thought her team was "really strong".

"But there's a lot of other strong teams out there," she said.

"So I think we're going to go out, try and have a good team spirit and fight for every match."

President of the European Pickleball Federation Frank Arico said people love pickleball because of its "universality"

Mr Arico thinks Spain will be the "main challengers" for England.

"England are not going to have it all their own way, and there are some good players in Italy," he said.

"Different countries are in different stages of development, but it will be a good contest."

He said the games would have a round robin format so that "everybody plays everybody and gets a chance to compete".

England Pickleball player Thaddea Lock said her team would "fight for every match"