The English Open wrapped up this weekend in the United Kingdom, with its largest number of players to date. Nearly 2,000 participants from 42 countries participated over the last week as pickleball continues its explosive growth worldwide.
Statistics show nearly 30,000 citizens play pickleball in the U.K., and there are hundreds of places to play the game. I would guess that pickleball is only 3-5 years behind the game in the States.
Here are the key results and takeaways from this year’s English Open:
Women’s Singles
- 🥇 Mollie Knaggs
- 🥈Alexa Schull
- 🥉Pei-Chuan Kao
Knaggs is a British player who has only been playing pickleball for a year, and she was able to beat American Alexa Schull. Pei-Chuan Kao is another British player who earned a bronze medal. She is also the team captain for Sea Surge in MLP Australia.
Men’s Singles
- 🥇 Max “Purple Jesus” Manthou
- 🥈 Ryler DeHeart
- 🥉 William Sobek
Manthou is not the tallest player on tour, but he is extremely quick and has great ground strokes and hands. He gets his nickname from his college days at the University of Washington, where he played D-I tennis – they are the Huskies and purple is their primary color.
Manthou recently published his Master’s Thesis while attending…
