Sue Wiltshire from Devon was astounded to finish on top of the podium at the recent Dutch Open in her first ever pickleball competition.
Sue, a GB seniors doubles tennis player and coach from Sidmouth, partnered with Sheena Maclean-Bell in the women’s doubles 4.0 draw and they ended up beating Belgian pair Flor Dekeyser and Elodie Poncelet in the final.
They had been match point down in the semi-finals against Morgane Daloze and Maria Munz, from Belgium and Germany respectively, before bravely battling back for victory.
Sue has been holding pickleball sessions alongside her tennis coaching at Sidmouth and Sidford tennis clubs. She told the Sidmouth Herald: “I really wasn’t sure we could do so well. Sheena’s experience as we went through the knockout stages was vital! It was a fantastic experience, and incredible atmosphere.”
Sue and Sheena met on a Level 2 pickleball coaching course in London. Sheena is a veteran competitor at national and international level and has done a great deal to grow the sport in her native Kent.
Sheena told Pickleball52: “It was amazing playing in the Dutch Open with Sue. We agreed to play together after finding our playing styles worked well together. Sue is an excellent attacking player and combined with my reset and dinking shots were a winning combination! I can’t wait to play in future tournaments with Sue!”
Over 350 players from all over Europe participated in the Dutch Open and the Union flag was peppered across the list of winners in Haarlem as an invading horde of British players went home with fistfuls of bullion!
Mollie Knaggs and Peter Hitchman won the 5.0 mixed doubles gold, Eleanor Tomkinson and Jess Wilson won the women’s doubles 4.5-5.0 category, Scots Lisa and Alastair Crocket took home the mixed doubles 4.5 golds, while William Evans and Chris Mitchell clinched the men’s doubles 4.0 title.
Full list of Dutch Open results can be found here.
