The English Nationals have been a great event. I prefer it to the Open. It was more social, brilliant courts and well organised! Also a bit smaller which made it easy to watch all the games. Oh and it also made it onto BBC Breakfast! Click the picture to watch:
Find out how the Nationals went in this article.
Controversy! (Before it even started).
When I was signing up at the Wednesday session, and before the event even started there was quiet uproar (between myself and one other person in the club who shall remain nameless), about the fact there was no singles event at Bolton this year. Last year, singles was on Friday, gender doubles on Saturday and mixed doubles on Sunday. However, after seeing how many people attended this year, I understand why they moved the Singles event to its own dedicated event.
Where was the Nationals held?
The event was at the University of Bolton Arena which is smaller in size by some margin than the Telford English Open. However, it clearly makes sense because the turnout at the Open is international. At Telford, there were 2 big rooms of courts, in Bolton at the Nationals there was only 1, but it felt more than enough. Through the middle is a fantastic gantry with plenty of room to walk through underneath and stand on top to watch all the matches. Unlike Telford, far fewer people try to get through the narrow walkway here, so you rarely end up stuck in queues.
The organizers have beautifully laid out the courts (these photos were taken at the end, while some of the courts were being taken down—my mistake). It was an indoor tennis surface, similar to the social in Boston Spa. Plenty of walkways and places to stand and watch most of the matches which is nice and something I think Telford struggles with a bit.
What events were there at the Nationals?
As mentioned earlier, in the nationals they planned to hold the singles separately in the future, which caused a bit of a scheduling mix-up this time. They split the age categories which I think worked well. Thursday was mixed doubles for 50+ and other older age groups, Friday was gender doubles for 50+ and older age groups. Saturday was gender doubles for below 18 and 35+ age groups, Sunday was mixed doubles for 18 and 35+ age groups. The pros were also playing on the Saturday and Sunday which meant that if you were waiting for a friend to play, or wanting to sit down and watch good pickleball, it was right there for you. Like this clip:
It seemed to keep everything on schedule like this, as well as also making sure the place was not absolutely packed full of all age categories. Also at the end of the day on Saturday, there was room for social play which was really nice.
Saturday – Gender Doubles
I cannot speak for the Thursday and Friday because I wasn’t there for it, so I’ll start on the Saturday. You were guaranteed 4 games within a group stage. If you came first or second in the group stage, you made it through to the knockout rounds which in the gender doubles went straight through to the quarter finals. Throughout the day the schedules were kept basically on track for most of the time which settled the stress of everyone I think. I entered 4.0 which unlike the Open felt closer to 4.0. Telford (the open) had 5.0’s floating around in there… Because of that, we had a few games which were very easy and some that were more difficult. We eventually made it through to the quarters but lost out 17-15. Fantastic time though!
Here’s a clip from one of the easier games:
Sunday – Mixed Doubles
On Sunday, the mixed doubles was again, well organised and felt like a lot of the players were 4.0. Although apparently one of the women in our group was playing in the British Premier League. It ran in a similar way as the gender doubles, there were a guaranteed 4 games from within your groups. If you came first or second on the group you went through. If you won the box, you got a bye to the quarter finals. By coming second you had to compete in the round of 16. We came second in the group but sadly lost out in the round of 16. But that’s ok, first time through the group stage!
What were the courts like at the Nationals?
So, once again, the courts were interesting at the nationals. They weren’t bad like at Telford where there were whole trenches under the courts that stopped the bounce entirely. In fact, quite the opposite! These courts were lively! As said before, they were indoor concrete tennis courts with that sandpaper surface, so the balls actually bounced up a lot. My men’s double partner, a smart man, noticed that the traditional lift long drop from the back was useless because it bounced higher than the actual net! To stop the ball being driven hard and fast at you, any long drops have to be more like aggressive push dink aiming at the feet. It wasn’t a scandal like last time. In fact, I quite liked the courts by the end and you did get used to them.
The pros had the roll out carpet that was at Telford over the top, which made their court bounce normally but I think even they had to adapt to the bouncy courts when they played on them.
When’s the next event?
The next of these big event is a while away. Excluding the singles event coming soon, the next one will be Telford again in August. I hope that we’ll have a big group of us heading over there to represent Grid and the East Riding of Yorkshire! Keep an eye on it on the Pickleball England website.
Leave a Reply