ROCKY RIVER, Ohio – Pickleball champion Mandy Thoburn and her playing partner Chuck Wilmore have just returned from an international tournament in the United Kingdom.
Mandy, 47, said: “It was a lot of fun. We had a great time and it was a great place to play.”
She and Chuck, who lives in Solon, jumped at the chance to play internationally when the opportunity arose earlier this year.
Mandy said, “I saw the advertisement for the tournament in Pickleball magazine, looked at the information and decided to give it a try.”
“We were in a group of 20 teams, divided into four groups of five, and the winners of each group made it to the quarter-finals of the English Open Tournament in Telford, Shropshire.”
But despite winning three of their four matches in the group, the mixed doubles narrowly missed out on the quarterfinals. “Other teams were equally strong and we didn’t win the tiebreaker, so we didn’t advance, but it was a great experience and a lot of fun.”
Mandy has enjoyed tournament success since taking up the sport a decade ago and is a sponsored player with Paddletek, a leading racquet brand used by many top professionals in their game.
She said, “I first heard about pickleball in 2013 when the national senior games were in Cleveland. I thought it looked fun and gave it a try. I love the exercise and have met so many nice people and had the opportunity to travel to new parts of the country and now the world and see things I didn’t have the opportunity to do before.”
During her stay in England she took the opportunity to visit London and York and do some hiking.
