A squad of 17 players from West Herts Wizards had fantastic success at the English Open Championship at Telford (3-6th August, 2023). This was a massive championship attracting over 1,000 entrants, from 34 different countries, showing the popularity of pickleball and how it is the fastest growing sport in the UK.
It was extremely exciting to see two players from the our club playing against each other in a final that is open to international players. Andy Tallyn and Simon Beddell spun the magic to take gold and silver medals respectively, and then continued to display their pickleball skills the following day when they teamed up together in the doubles, and again won the gold medal in the 35+ years category.
To achieve success this way was tremendous, but there was more to come. Fellow Wizards Tim Gill and Roy Eastwood also played against each other in the 60+ years singles final, winning gold and silver, and they also paired up the next day to win the gold medal in the men's doubles.
Still more success to come, with club member Philip Cohen. He achieved two gold medals in the 60+ years 3.0 category, winning in both the men's doubles and mixed doubles. This meant West Herts Wizards had won 6 gold and two silver medals in total. Other Wizards came close to getting medals with Graham Tallyn getting to the semi-finals and many club pairings reaching quarter finals.