West Kirby Pickleball Club Triumph at English Nationals in Bolton.
20 players from West Kirby Pickleball club attended the Bolton Arena last weekend for the English Nationals. The tournament took place over 4 days and there were various events throughout this time.
What is Pickleball?
Pickleball is a fun sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. Played both indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court and a slightly modified tennis net. Two or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, over a net.
Rising in popularity in the US for the past few decades, interest has exploded across the world, with Pickleball England now boasting over 15,000 registered members.
West Kirby Pickler Medal Winners
Thu – Mixed Doubles 3.0 60+ Marion Flanagan/Gavin Lochhead – Silver
Thu – Mixed Doubles 3.0 70+ Valerie Jones/Tony Cawley Shingler – Bronze
Fri – Mens+ Doubles 3.0 60+ Gavin Lochhead/Andrew Scholfield – Gold
Fri – Mens+ Doubles 4.0 50+ Michael Scott/Tim Goodhand – Gold
Sat – Mens+ Doubles 3.5 15+ James George/Harry Payne – Silver
Sun – Mixed Doubles 3.0 15+ Abby Coleman/Paul Price – Gold
In the mens doubles 3.0 60+ event, Gavin Lochhead paired-up with a player he had never met before. His partner struggled with asthma throughout their games and it was a real triumph over adversity that they managed to win gold with some excellent play.
Michael Scott paired-up with a player he had never met before. They did very well in a high standard division to finish in the silver medal position. However, that silver was upgraded to gold when the event winners were disqualified. The winners were disqualified as one of them had entered the Welsh Nationals earlier in the year. Players are not permitted to enter both the English Nationals in the same year..
Other participants
Thu – Mixed Doubles 3.0 60+ Daphne Bridson/Brian Bridson Made it out of the group and went out in the round of 32
Thu – Mixed Doubles 3.0 60+ Ian Adams/Diane Cannon Ian partnered a lady from Nottingham and they managed to win one of their group games
Thu Mixed Doubles 3.0 60+ Stephanie Edwards/Tony Sinnott With Stephanie struggling with illness, they did fantastically well to make the quarter-finals, eventually losing 15-5.
Thu – Mixed Doubles 3.0 60+ Rosie Tandy/Nick Little Made it out of the group and went out in the round of 16, losing 15-10
Thu -Mixed Doubles 3.0 50+ Jane Evans-Woodason/Andy Newton managed to win two group games
Thu – Mixed Doubles 3.5 50+ Nhu Nguyen Luu/Michael Scott Did fantastically well against quality players to reach the semi-finals, losing 15-9 to the eventual gold medal winners. In the bronze medal final, they managed to take it to three games but lost 2-1. A top effort.
Fri – Mens Doubles 3.0 50+ Chris Lees/Andy Newton Managed to win two group games
Fri – Mens Doubles 3.0 60+ Ian Adams/Tony Sinnott Managed to win one of their group games. However, it was against fellow club mates Nick Little and Brian Bridson and was widely considered one of the shocks of the tournament. Well played Ian and Tony!
Fri – Mens Doubles 3.0 60+ Nick Little/Brian Bridson Did very well, eventually losing 15-9 in the quarter finals.
Fri – Mens Doubles 3.0 70+ Tony Cawley Shingler/Steve Gray Honorary West Kirby Picker Tony (plays at Ellesmere Port but paired-up with our very own Valerie Jones in the Mixed Doubles 3.0 70+) paired-up with a random player and did very well, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal.
Fri – Womens Doubles 3.0 50+ Jane Evans-Woodason/Clair Coffey Did very well, eventually losing 15-6 in the quarter finals
Fri – Womens Doubles 3.0 60+ Daphne Bridson/Rosie Tandy Managed to win one group game
Fri – Womens Doubles 3.0 70+ Nicola Merriman/Valerie Jones Lost 15-11 in the quarter finals
Sat – Mens Doubles 3.5 50+ Mike Payne/Zak Golombeck Mike partnered a player he had never met before and they managed to be competitive in two of their group games
Sat – Mens Doubles 3.0 15+ Paul Price/Shubham Wagh Paul paired-up with a player new to him and they did fantastically well to reach the semi-finals and then compete in the bronze medal final which they went on to lose in two games. A top effort though.
Sat – Womens Doubles 3.5 15+ Louise Skerrow/Angie Payne Gave a good account of themselves against good players in the group stages
Sun – Mixed Doubles 3.5 35+ Angie Payne/Mike Payne Last year’s silver medalists managed to win one game at the group stage.
Sun – Mixed Doubles 3.5 15+ Louise Skerrow/James George Did well and managed to win two of their group games
