Shrewsbury duo hit form to leave rivals in a pickle

Not least because the 49-year-old is the founder of Pickleball Central UK, which was formed last year and now operates in five locations across the West Midlands.

Edwards was first introduced to pickleball – a sport which is growing exponentially around the world – while on holiday in Devon in 2021 and quickly set up a group once she returned to her hometown.

Now fully immersed, several of her registered players, as well as herself, were part of the Skechers English Open at Telford International Centre where nearly 2,000 participated across seven days of high competition from August 8-14.

Edwards said: “It’s amazing, and for it to be so close to where my group is in Shrewsbury, which is 20 minutes away.

“I’ve had a lot of my members play and it’s been great to watch them.

“I came to the English Open last year and this time it’s a lot more improved, they’ve got a lot more facilities in, the Battle of the Paddles was really good, so there were a lot of extra nice new things.

“The UK is probably leading the growth spurt [of pickleball] and then probably Australia behind us, and Spain is coming up as well, so a lot of countries are getting more into pickleball.”

Edwards competed in the women’s 4.0 over-45s competitions at Telford, with her run in the singles tournament taking her all the way to a gold medal triumph.

The growth of pickleball is reflected in the fact that players from 42 different counties participated among the record numbers that attended the event.

There are now more than 30,000 people in the UK who play, while Pickleball England have reported a 41 per cent increase in member registrations since the end of 2023.

When Edwards set up Shrewsbury Pickleball, she was having to approach people to get them into the sport, but now they come to her when it comes to finding a club near Shrewsbury, Telford, Birmingham, Wolverhampton or Market Drayton.

“A lot of the enquiries I get are just people who Google pickleball and my website comes up,

pickleballcentraluk.com, and I just get enquiries from that because they’re looking for pickleball,” Edwards said. “I played it on holiday in Devon and really liked it and then brought it back to Shropshire when no-one really played here.

“I introduced it to my friends and just grew a group and made a business from it.”

And there was more local success as Shrewsbury’s Sabrina Edwards Pereira also struck gold.

Pereira, 18, who attends Harper Adams University, and women’s doubles partner Karen Crawford won every match en route to success in the 4.5 18+ event before taking a thrilling decider two games to one.

“I was feeling very tired, but I was just like ‘come on, last bit of energy and we can go home and lie in bed,’” said Pereira.

“We played together last year at the English Open in the 4.0 tournament, and we got silver last year, then we’ve come up a level and we’ve won gold, so we’re really happy with that.

“I got into pickleball, I think, about two years ago or maybe a bit before that.

“We went down to Devon and played it at the Ashbury Hotel for this sports thing, and we won it the first day we played.”

A hybrid of tennis, badminton and 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.

“I was a tennis player before and my whole family now plays, my brother and my mum, and we all really enjoy it,” added Pereira.

“The event is amazing and I love the fact the Americans have come over and showcased such a high-level of pickleball pros, which helps Europe get more into pickleball.”

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