European Pickleball Championships
The European Pickleball Federation announced earlier in the year, the inaugural European Pickleball Team Championship were held on Saturday 23rd November and Sunday 24th November 2024 at the Southampton Tennis Centre in Southampton.
Teams from EPF member countries competed for the title of ‘Champions of Europe‘. The event included an opening ceremony with all teams entering the venue in a march behind their countries’ flags.
Pickleball England is a proud member of the EPF and along with 23 other member countries entered the Team Event.
We are thrilled to confirm that Team England won the championships!
********************************CONGRATULATIONS TEAM ENGLAND!*******************************
The PbE Selection Committee, led by Elaine Shallcross (Team Manager) finalised their selection after the English Nationals.
Open: Women – Mollie Knaggs, Thaddea Lock & Molly O’Donoghue; Men – James Chaudry, Peter Hitchman & Louis Laville; Team Coach – Sam Basford
50+: Women – Marcia Audibert, Anna Linton & Julie McCauley; Men – Lee Harper, Richard Love & David Youngs; Team Coach – Rob Williams
Team England dominated on Saturday, winning both the 50+ Mixed and Open Mixed. Singing along to Sweet Caroline whilst the team bounced up and down was a highlight of the weekend. On Sunday, Team England got to ALL 4 Finals but alas, were runners up each time in incredibly close and exciting matches. Getting to the finals secured the Overall Championship for Team England. Very proud of all the team singing along to the National Anthem at the end.
Everyone listed above operated as one Team and as family for the weekend and that really shone through. Take a look at the video below!
Team England: Senior women: Marcia Audibert, Anna Linton & Julie McCauley. Senior men: Lee Harper, Richard Love & David Youngs. Open women: Mollie Knaggs, Thaddea Lock & Mollie O’Donoghue. Open men: James Chaudry, Peter Hitchman & Louis Laville. Coaches: Sam Basford & Rob Williams Team Manager: Elaine Shallcross.
What a team!
European Pickleball Championships format
The EPC 2024 has 6 Events:
OPEN Category (Any Age – under 18 require indemnity form signed)
- Mixed Doubles (Saturday)
- Men’s Doubles (Sunday)
- Women’s Doubles (Sunday)
SENIOR Category (Age 50+)
- Mixed Doubles(Saturday)
- Men’s Doubles (Sunday)
- Women’s Doubles (Sunday)
The 24 participating countries are:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland,Portugal
Scotland, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales
You can find out more information here.
Meet the England Team representing us at the European Pickleball Championships
Pickleball England Selection Process
The Selection process was concluded based on results of the 2024 English Nationals.
The Selection process is outlined here.
As the host country, we were anticipating an epic event, which it most definitely was. Yesterday, Team England dominated the Mixed Doubles event with Gold medals for the Senior and Open event. This really put England in the lead but there were four events today, so the team needed to really play well again today. And they did, all the teams made it through to the finals. 4 silver medals won which was an awesome result that meant Team England won overall at the inaugural European Pickleball Championships. Well done everyone on a magnificent team effort. 👏👏👏. We are all proud of you.