By Mohamed Hamza in Southampton 

A former artistic gymnast and tennis player from Bulgaria relished her role in mentoring the next generation of talent at the inaugural DUPR European Pickleball Championships in Southampton. 

A physical education teacher by day, Rositsa Petrova moonlights as deputy chairperson within the Bulgarian Pickleball Federation, helping to grow the sport back home and promote the next wave of pickleball talent while ensuring opportunities are open for anyone who wants to pick up a paddle. 

That is before mentioning her other role as part of a Bulgarian squad representing their country at the sport's first-ever European Championship. 

“I’ve only played pickleball for two years when it started getting popular in Bulgaria,” said Petrova.  

“Because I played tennis before, friends of mine showed me pickleball and we started playing together.   

“It’s different to tennis, to badminton, to table tennis. It’s a mix between all racket sports and I really love to play it.

“It’s not been big for long, only for two years. We try to teach a lot of people about this sport, educate them and show them how to play and we hope to keep in touch with countries in Europe to make it popular there as well.”   

Pickleball is a fast-growing sport in Europe having first started in the US in the 1960s, it is a hybrid racket sport that is popular for its accessibility for all ages and abilities. 

Pickleball gets its name from its American founders, with the family game created in 1965 named after their pet dog Pickle. 

The European Championships saw players compete in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles, across both the Open and Senior categories. 

Individual medals were on offer in each of the disciplines, with the medal tallies also added up to decide the overall Champions of Europe. 

With a chance to test her mettle against the finest pickleball talent the continent has to offer in Southampton, Petrova is determined to keep leading the charge and ensure the sport not only survives but thrives in Bulgaria. 

She added: “We are only 10 people, women and men who represent Bulgaria and for us, it’s hard to make our teams because we aren’t so many people back home. 

"Some of our participants come from the United States and they’re here to represent us. 

“We really didn’t know where we are in pickleball. We’ve never been on tournaments before.  

"This is our first European tournament and now we know how much we have to continue working on to make pickleball more popular among young people and people who want to do sport." 

Find out more information about the European Pickleball Championships by visiting www.europeanpickleballfederation.org