Manchester’s Molly O’Donoghue stormed to gold on her debut at the 2024 Skechers English Nationals in Bolton.
The 22-year-old, who studies at the University of Edinburgh, topped the podium in the Women’s Doubles Open alongside partner Sara Tsukamoto.
They defeated Mercedes Baxter Chinery and Mollie Knaggs in the final to see O’Donoghue win gold after only picking up the sport eight months ago.
“It feels amazing,” she said. “We’re so happy. It couldn’t have gone better really.
“I only started playing at the end of March. We played our first event together in Sweden in September and then we went to Stuttgart afterwards.
“Our styles matched and we’ve kind of gone from there. Just playing with Sara and having the community here in general, everyone that we train with are all so nice.”
Pickleball is a racket sport which sees players compete using paddles and a perforated plastic ball.
The sport gets its name from its American founders, with the family game created in 1965 and named after their pet dog Pickle.
Played indoors and outdoors, it is a fast-growing sport across England and can be played by all ages and abilities, even on the same court.
Taking place from Thursday 31 October to Sunday 3 November at Bolton Arena, the English Nationals comprised four days of high-level competition, with a record number of 1,111 pickleball players competing in the North-west.
O’Donoghue added: “Here you’ve got the best of the best in the UK playing against each other, it gives us all a chance to come together and showcase our skills and let everyone else watch us play.
“The sport gives anyone of any ability an outlet. Anyone can play.
“I discovered it in Australia and I was out there for the year and I wanted to do something competitive because I used to be a tennis player.
“I found it through that and the community over there was amazing and I wanted to carry that back here.
“I hope that it can grow in the UK. It’s better in America, Australia and Asia at the moment but hopefully, pickleball can grow and more tournaments can happen and more people get into it.”
Pickleball England has announced a record number of over 1,000 players competing at the 2024 Skechers English Nationals. The tournament takes place from the 31st October – 3rd November at Bolton Arena and is the second largest national pickleball event. For more information, visit www.pickleballengland.org
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