More than 1,000 pickleball players are heading to Bolton this week, as Pickleball England hosts their annual English Nationals event at Bolton Arena.

Taking place from tomorrow to Sunday,, the English Nationals will comprise four days of high-level competition, with a record number of 1,111 pickleball players set to compete in the town.

As the sport’s popularity continues to soar, Pickleball England has seen a 61-per-cent increase in player registrations for this year’s English Nationals.

As such, this week’s event in Bolton will be a doubles-only tournament - a decision made by the organisers to allow as many players as possible to compete.

Mixed Doubles, Men’s and Women’s Doubles, Junior and Wheelchair Doubles events are all scheduled to take place across the four days of competition, with ages 10 to 83 set to take to the court.

The Skechers 2024 English Nationals is the second largest national pickleball tournament and Skechers is the title sponsor for the second year in a row. The ball and net sponsor is Franklin Pickleball, with supporting sponsorship from UK Pickleball Shop, Knotty’s, SCAN and FansPlay.

With an estimated 35,000 active players and more than 630 places to play in the UK, pickleball has seen exponential growth in the past year, with Pickleball England reporting a 60-per-cent YTD increase in membership in October 2024.

A hybrid of badminton, table tennis and tennis, pickleball is easy to learn and fun to play, making it an ideal sport for all ages and abilities.

Speaking about the forthcoming English Nationals event, Karen Mitchell, chair and co-founding director of Pickleball England said: “The massive growth we’ve seen in pickleball over the last 12 months has meant we now have a record number of 1,111 players heading to Bolton to compete in this year’s English Nationals.

“We have some of the top players from a number of different age categories competing on court, so it’s set to be an exciting few days.

“We’re hoping the English Nationals will inspire more people to try the sport we all love and we’d encourage anyone to come down and watch if they’ve never seen pickleball played before.

“We want to showcase the best of our sport in the North West.”

Play during the English Nationals will commence from 9am each day. Head to www.pickelballengland.org to find out more about the tournament schedule or head to the ‘Club Locator’ to find your nearest place to play.