For another year, DUPR is proud to continue its partnership with Pickleball England as the organization prepares to host another edition of the English Open, taking place August 11–16, 2026 in Birmingham. As always, DUPR will support the event with official pickleball ratings, ensuring an accurately measured competitive experience for all players.

As one of Europe’s largest pickleball events, the tournament continues to showcase the growth of the sport on an international scale, bringing together thousands of players from around the world for days of competition, community, and unforgettable moments on court.

Building Pickleball Across England

Pickleball England launched in January 2019 with a goal of helping grow the sport across the country.

Since then, the organization has continued to expand and reached an important milestone in December 2024, receiving official recognition from Sport England.

Today, there are around 75,000 pickleball players across England, with 19,000 registered Pickleball England members. The organization’s network has also grown to include 925 clubs across 1,350 venues, reflecting the continued expansion and accessibility of the sport across the country.

In 2021, Pickleball England launched its Pickleball Leaders Certification Workshop, helping hundreds of people introduce new players to pickleball.

They later expanded their coaching pathway by introducing the Level 1 Coach qualification in 2024 and the Level 2 Coach qualification in 2025, creating more opportunities for education and development across the sport. Today, Pickleball England has 484 qualified Level 1 coaches and nearly 3,000 Leaders and Activators helping introduce and grow pickleball communities across the country.

The English Open Keeps Getting Bigger & Better

The English Open has become the largest international pickleball event outside the USA..

This year, more than 3,020 players have already registered, and the team expects up to 3,500 players by the close of registration. Players are expected from more than 40 nationalities, reflecting the tournament’s growing international reach.

According to Karen Mitchell, Co-founder and Chair of Pickleball England, it’s the experience around the competition.

“The friendliness of the players, the attraction of pro players and watching them play up close, clinics and playing with a pro, the retail village with activations, the photo booth, networking with people from all over the world, allmake the event special.”

This year also brings something new as the event moves to NEC Birmingham, opening the door for an even bigger tournament experience.

The event will also feature:

• Two livestreamed Championship Courts with line calling technology
• Clinics and player experiences
• Seminar Day (ref Tito as a speaker?)
• Practice Courts
• Fun competitions
• Unity Cup - offering intergenerational play, hybrid play (adaptive with non adaptive players), wooden paddle games - this day is all about the pickleball community.
• As well as our trademark efficient tournament operations

How DUPR Helps Create Better Competition

As part of the continued partnership, DUPR helps support fair and competitive play throughout Pickleball England tournaments.

With registration now connected through PickleBook and DUPR integration, tournament organizers can better place players in the correct events.

“DUPR helps ensure players enter the right divisions and reduces sandbagging,” Karen shared.

Features like:

• Reliability Score
• Mixed doubles ratings
• 50+ age ratings
• Simplified score submission

are helping make tournament management easier while improving confidence in pickleball ratings.

Karen added:

“The more data that goes into DUPR, the more accurate our player information becomes. That helps players enter the right skill level events and creates fairer brackets.”

Looking Ahead

As pickleball continues to grow in England and around the world, partnerships like this help create better experiences for players at every level.

We’re excited to continue working with Pickleball England and support another year of competition at the English Open in Birmingham from August 11–16, 2026.