By Mohamed Hamza in Southampton 

A university student from Estonia is revelling in the community he has found from playing pickleball after representing his homeland at the inaugural DUPR European Pickleball Championships in Southampton. 

Joonas Arnover, 21, first played the sport while on holiday in the United States and though the University of Tallinn student comes from a tennis background, pickleball proved his true home. 

The Tallinn native is relishing the chance to make more friends from across the continent after representing his nation at the first-ever pickleball European championships. 

“I was playing tennis first but then I was on holiday with my parents and my siblings live in the US and they introduced pickleball to us so my father became obsessed with it,” he said. 

“I finished playing tennis because of a little injury so I thought pickleball is a bit more interesting and tennis was quite a toxic environment in Estonia.   

“The community is fun and there are many people now. Not so much as tennis or padel but it’s growing step-by-step and maybe 100 people play to my knowledge.

   

“You can smash balls, that’s exciting too and fun but the community, if you go to play in a foreign country, everyone’s friendly and if you take that attitude and come home and share it with others, others will be friendly too.” 

Pickleball is a fast-growing sport in Europe having first started in the US in the 1960s, it is a hybrid racket sport that is popular for its accessibility for all ages and abilities. 

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

The European Championships saw players compete in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles, across both the Open and Senior categories. 

Individual medals were on offer in each of the disciplines, with the medal tallies also added up to decide the overall Champions of Europe. 

Arnover added: “It’s always exciting to play in foreign countries and represent Estonia. It’s a new experience being in England.  

"Everything is similar to Estonia but the food is exciting and everything is too.   

“It’s a great honour but it’s not quite popular yet in Estonia so there aren’t too many expectations but it’s getting there and becoming more exciting.”   

Find out more information about the European Pickleball Championships by visiting www.europeanpickleballfederation.org