Canterbury's Karen Evans swapped badminton for pickleball and never looked back.

The 51-year-old first discovered the sport with wife Lisa and was instantly hooked, trading her badminton racket for a pickleball paddle.

It's now led her to an appearance at the record-breaking 2024 Skechers English Nationals in Bolton.

“My wife Lisa set up Canterbury Pickleball Club two years ago,” she said. “We were playing badminton and it was playing on the court next to us.

“We were intrigued and started watching it and the people playing said come and have a play.

"They got into it through a relative who lives in America, and as soon as we had a go we stopped playing badminton and started playing pickleball.

“It's such a friendly sport. There's no snobbery, you get to know so many different people, different ages and it's just very friendly.”

Pickleball is a racket sport which sees players compete using paddles and a perforated plastic ball.

The sport gets its name from its American founders, with the family game created in 1965 and named after their pet dog Pickle.

Played indoors and outdoors, it is a fast-growing sport across England and can be played by all ages and abilities, even on the same court.

Taking place from Thursday 31 October to Sunday 3 November at Bolton Arena, the English Nationals comprised four days of high-level competition, with a record number of 1,111 pickleball players competing in the North West.

She added: "Nationals has been tiring but good. I haven't seen much of Bolton!

“We've gone all over the place and gone to different countries with it. Tennis used to have a snobbery factor to it and can be not so open.

"But pickleball's so easy to get into and events like this spread the word through friends.

"It's getting bigger and bigger. We need a bigger venue and hopefully one specifically for pickleball.

“There are so many youngsters coming into it, it is changing and getting quicker. Hopefully, it'll get bigger than tennis eventually.”

Pickleball England has announced a record number of over 1,000 players competing at the 2024 Skechers English Nationals. The tournament takes place from the 31st October - 3rd November at Bolton Arena and is the second largest national pickleball event. For more information, visit www.pickleballengland.org