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

Retired personnel manager Burgess, 69, 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.

“I always enjoyed sport, at school and as an adult, so I played squash, hockey, that sort of thing, and then didn’t play anything in my 50s,” said Wigan's Burgess.

“Then when I came to retire, I thought I need to keep fit, so I walked more but I also heard about pickleball from an American cousin of my husband, so I thought this sounds quite interesting.

“I was fortunate that we have a club in Ware, so I joined there in 2019 and went from there.”

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.

“I have been a past medal winner at the English Open, but it has changed and it has become a lot more popular over the last five years I’ve been involved with it and the standards are much better,” said Burgess.

“I think it’s a facility and having the hotels and places to eat nearby is very good – it’s like the Nationals at Bolton, which is a very similar set-up where you have a venue and you have hotels and places to eat around it, so it’s been very good.”

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