Youngs ends pickleball career with gold at 2025 Knotty’s English Nationals

By Milly McEvoy in Bolton

David Youngs ended his competitive pickleball career on a high with victory in the men’s doubles senior pro event at the 2025 Knotty’s English Nationals.

Playing at Bolton Arena, the 58-year-old was partnered by his fellow Norfolkian Richard Love to gold.

The pair defended their title from 2024, as they beat Christo Frylinck and Rupert Robinson 11-9 11-8 in the final.

“I am currently awaiting a new hip, and I played national level squash for 15 years prior to having six years of pickleball,” Youngs said.

“With the travelling and my hip hurts every time I play, I just think it is really lovely to have gone out with a win, it is enough for me.

“I will stay in pickleball but only recreationally. I’m going to knock the competition side on the head, a fantastic way for me to go out with me and Richard winning the gold medal.

“But tournament wise, this is me done, I have had an amazing time, and I’m going to have a new hip and enjoy retirement.”

Youngs, who works as a squash coach in Norwich, was an earlier adopter of the sport, which has exploded in the UK in recent years.

Love, who also won mixed doubles gold with Anna Linton, credits Youngs with inspiring him to pursue the game.

He said: “We are both from Norfolk, as is Anna my mixed doubles partner, we all started off in pickleball going to David to teach us how to play.

“So over the last two or three years, he has done a good job at spotting talent, and me, and it is so nice to go out playing with him and it made me try even harder.

“We played really well last year and we thought about not playing together this year and all the stars aligned and we got to play with each other again this year.

“We have had so much fun, David is so much fun to play with. It is bittersweet though, because this is going to be his last tournament.”

Pickleball developed as a backyard game in Washington, and is named after the pickle boat in rowing, which sees spare rowers from different teams form a crew.

The name reflects the sport, which has borrowed from other racket sports, as it is played on a badminton doubles-sized court and features playing styles seen in tennis and table tennis.

The game is played with a solid paddle and a perforated plastic ball, while players can only score points on their serve.

Rising in popularity in the US for the past few decades, interest has exploded across the world, with Pickleball England now boasting over 15,000 registered members.

And Youngs reflected on how much the game has changed since he first started playing.

He said: “I rocked up at Nottingham in 2019 for the first English Open they did, I literally didn’t know the rules.

“I turned up having only played for six months and where it has gone in six years is just ridiculous.

“We wanted have needed half these courts in 2019 and now they are getting so many entries, they are turning people away. The standards has gone sky high.”

Linton also stood on top of the podium as she claimed women's doubles gold with Marcia Audibert.

Pickleball England had a record number of players at the 2025 Knotty’s English Nationals. The tournament took place from 30 October to 2 November at Bolton Arena. For more information: https://www.pickleballengland.org/