David Bungard in an historic week for pickleball at a record-breaking Skechers English OPEN.

Bungard, 75, who runs food safety company LusoCristal, featured in the English Open at the Telford International Centre – the largest pickleball event taking place outside of North America.

With ages from 7 to 70+ competing, the event is reflective of the incredible growth in pickleball over recent years, with a record number of almost 2,000 players from 42 countries participating in a sport which has aspirations of making the Olympic programme.

“I discovered pickleball coming back from Brazil at the start of 2018, when my wife had recently been suffering from cancer, and we went to a local leisure centre for her to swim, and I saw this game being played in the sports hall. I had no idea what it was all about,” said Epsom's Bungard.

“My wife, unfortunately, progressively got worse and eventually we lost her, so I started really playing, I suppose, from the middle of 2019.

“It was a sport I had no idea about, I was fascinated by it because it was very easy to pick up – I hadn’t played any racket sports for many years – and I progressed from there.”

This year’s English OPEN comprised seven days of high-level competition, with the world’s top professionals from America, Europe and Asia taking to the court in singles, doubles, mixed, wheelchair and junior events.

A hybrid of tennis, badminton & table tennis, the sport’s popularity has been attributed to its accessibility. Easy to pick up and fun to play, the sport’s accessibility transcends demographics, providing it with universal appeal.

“I was here at the Open last year as well, but it’s doubled in size from last year to this year and it’s amazing, the number of athletes who are taking part has doubled from the amount that were here last year,” added Bungard.

“But it’s great, the atmosphere is brilliant, there are lots of people that I’ve known over the years, so I feel among friends.”

Pickleball England has announced a record number of players competing at this year’s English OPEN from the 8th-14th August at the Telford International Centre in the largest pickleball event taking place outside of the USA EVER – visit pickleballengland.org