Ben Cawston, Anna Linton, Sara Tsukamoto and Georgia Macalle were among the standout players as season two of the Franklin Premier Pickleball League (PPL) kicked off at Bolton Arena last weekend.
The expanded second PPL season now features a Challenger division for aspiring players and a Masters category for 50+ players as well as the Premier division for the country’s top-level talent.
The first leg of the 2024/25 season saw picklers take over the huge Bolton Arena for the weekend, with a pickleball festival held on Sunday alongside the Premier competition.
Ben Cawston, the rackets world champion who has made a big impression in pickleball over the last nine months, went undefeated in the Premier division although his Pickleball United team ended the weekend second in the table behind Franklin, who were the only other team to win both their fixtures.
Ben teamed up with Anna Linton in the Premier mixed doubles to record a notable victory over Freddie Powell and Ellie Tomkinson of the Pickleball Store. Anna also played in the Masters division, captaining the RW Pickleball team and winning every game she played. PPL founder Ed Hares said: “Anna was absolutely unbelievable – particularly on Sunday where she played exceptionally in the company of the country’s top players.”
Sara Tsukamoto turned a few heads in Bolton too. A former US college tennis player, she trains at Roehampton alongside Louis Laville, Freddie Powell and James Chaudry and was an unknown quantity to most opponents.
Representing North London Storm, who sit third in the nascent table after one win and one loss, Sara beat Team Fansplay’s Jess Wilson in a close singles game after losing the first set. “She was unbelievably good,” commented Ed. “Sara is going to cause a few surprises and be a really, really top player this season.”
In the Challenger division, the Kitchen Pickleball and RAQT won both their matches, but it was Georgia Macalle who stood out for winning all five of her matches for Spicy Pickleball Academy, who sit third in the table. Georgia was named Player of the Tournament.
Anna Linton’s RW Pickleball and MCMX, captained by Richard Love, sit atop the Masters table after round one.
“The standard was great across both days,” said Ed. “The addition of the Challenger division showcased the depth of play in English pickleball, which is massively growing year on year.
“It’s also really exciting seeing the slightly different style of play in the Masters division. You get more prolonged rallies, it’s less hard-hitting and a lot more tactical. It’s really interesting to watch.
“It’s more like a chess match, whereas the Premier division is quite fast-paced now especially with carbon paddles with loads of grit and more power. It was nice to see the Masters isn’t totally dominated by that style of play.”
All legs in season two of the PPL will be live streamed on raqt.com. The action in Bolton was filmed by Optical Media who will be releasing a 30-minute highlights package next Wednesday.
Ed’s ambition is to raise the quality of coverage to the level where it could be an off-the-shelf product for broadcast on TV sports channels.
Weekend Two of the 2024/25 PPL is at Easton Tennis Centre in Norwich on 31 August – 1 September.
