SIXTEEN members of Torfaen Pickleball Club (TPC) have just returned from Madrid after taking part in the Spanish Open Pickleball Tournament where over 300 players from all over the world took part.

Janet Price and Dai Watkins were outstanding in winning a Gold medal in the mixed 0ver 60 category. Sue Smith & Alan Nixon very nearly repeated the feat, but had to settle for a very well deserved Silver medal in the mixed Over 55 category.

This tournament included a professional elite group, which proved to be very enlightening. It was great to be able to see the very top players showcasing this wonderful game. It was also heartening to see so many of the TPC players performing well in their categories, even if they didn’t all achieve medal success this time.

TPC now has nearly 60 members who enjoy playing regularly on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 10am-12 noon, and at their new Friday evening session, 7pm-9pm, at Cwmbran Stadium.

Club Chairman John (Shun) Price said, “We enjoy playing regularly in Cwmbran and we are proud to represent Wales at tournaments. On the horizon in 2018 is the first UK four nation’s tournament to be held in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. We hope that TPC will be strongly represented in the Welsh contingent in this new venture. We are also looking at the possibility of staging our own Welsh Invitational event in the New Year.”