European singles champion Louis Laville expects Olympic fever to take hold of Telford for this week’s Skechers English Pickleball OPEN.
Wimbledon’s Laville, 28, flies the flag for Great Britain as a host of international stars battle it out at Telford International Centre with a record number of players set to compete.
The column inches have been dominated by events in Paris recently, but Laville doesn’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing for pickleball.
“The aim for pickleball is obviously to go the Olympics, I think it’ll be an absolutely perfect Olympic sport.” he said.
“In terms of taking away from this week, I almost think it might do the opposite.
“To be honest, everyone’s going to be really buzzed. I picked up two French players last night, and they just couldn’t stop talking about watching the Olympics and we’re all just going to probably sit there in the evenings, watching some of the big races.
“The camaraderie amongst players is phenomenal so I think the Olympics will maybe fuel that and some passion on court as well.”
Taking place from the 8th – 14th August, the English OPEN will be the largest pickleball event taking place outside of North America, with a record number of almost 2,000 players from 42 countries set to participate.
One of the big draws of pickleball is its’s sociability, with many budding players citing the camaraderie on offer as the decisive factor in leaving tennis or squash behind.
Laville competes at the top level and is sponsored by Franklin, who he will represent in Thursday’s Battle of the Paddles event, but agrees that pickleball offers a unique and warm environment.
“It sounds ridiculous – I want to win on court – but the main reason I play pickleball is because of the sociability of it,” said Laville.
“I’ve met some of my best mates through pickleball. I get to travel all round the world meeting loads of new pickable players. I’m picking up a few New Zealand players shortly, and I’ve only met one of them once or twice but I’m more than happy to pick them up and take them to Telford and have a chat in the car for a few hours.
“We’ll be fiercely competitive on court against each other, but the second we come off, we’re back to being mates and maybe we’ll go for a beer in the evening and have a nice, chilled time.”
Photo credit: Sean Ames / Beat Media Group
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
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