Folkestone pickleball player Jake Saxby wins bronze alongside Dean Powell on his English Nationals debut

Jake Saxby is excited for the future of pickleball after earning bronze at this year’s English Nationals.

The 25-year-old from Folkestone finished third in the over-18s men’s 3.5 doubles alongside Dean Powell, beating Richard Green and Oscar Bailey in the bronze-medal match.

A medal was the perfect way for Saxby to mark his debut at the English Nationals, with this year’s event seeing a record number of players as the sport continues to snowball in popularity.

“I feel like I didn’t play my best until right at the end but it was still good to get a medal,” he said.

“I played at the English Open and then I went up one [skill] level in doubles and two in singles, so it was a lot tougher but I was hoping to get a medal so I’m glad I did.

“It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the world, it’s massive in America so, in this country, it’s only going to get bigger.

“Everyone here is so chatty and really nice. It’s a good environment to be in.”

Over the past year, pickleball has seen a meteoric rise in the UK due to its inclusive and accessible nature. Now, there’s an estimated 12,000 regular players and more than 450 venues offer the sport across the country.

There were 682 athletes attending the National Championships at the Bolton Arena, which was up from 430 at the 2022 event.

Saxby is one of the many players using skills from other racket sports and now regularly plays at his club, Hawkinge Hawks, after his father first tried out the game.

“It was mainly my dad who first started playing,” he explained. “I play table tennis and tennis and he used to play table tennis but decided he wanted to try a new sport and picked up pickleball.

“I went along a few times, enjoyed it and kept playing.

“Singles is very much like mini