Norwich Pickleball Club secures medal haul at Dutch Open

The team won 20 medals at the Dutch Open in Amsterdam after a heated weekend of competition.

This included four golds for Anna Linton, three for Richard Love, two for Fay Manning and one each for Jess Wilson, Eleanor Tomkinson, Kevin Jay and Sam Anderson.

The pickleball club has more than doubled its members in the last five months (Image: Norwich Pickleball Club)

Richard Stevens, chairman of Norwich Pickleball Club, said: "You can enter various tournaments all over the country at various levels.

"Even some of our beginners, who have got some previous experience with racket sports, do well because there are different categories that you can enter into.

"You don’t have to think of yourself as a top-class player, there are varying degrees of access to tournaments."

The club runs sessions around Norwich during the week (Image: Norwich Pickleball Club)

This victory streak has continued since as Jess Wilson went on to outshine competitors in Rome, winning the ladies' singles open competition.

Pickleball originated in the USA, combining elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis, and is growing in popularity across the world.

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Founded in October 2014, Norwich Pickleball Club plays at venues across the city including City College, Wensum Sports Centre and Easton College.

The sport combines tennis, table tennis and badminton (Image: Norwich Pickleball Club)

Richard added: "Just before Christmas last year the club had somewhere in the region of 90 members, the club now has 198 just over five months later.

"Some people come and try it and it’s occasionally for them, but the trend is that once people start playing they just keep coming back and playing at most the sessions."

For further information about the seven weekly sessions run by Norwich Pickleball Club, including at Wensum Sports Centre, see the club's Facebook page.