GARETH Bale and teammates are not the only Welsh athletes to be going for glory on the continent this summer and the nation’s pickleball practitioners have already shown the footballers the way.

Pickleball is a new sport in the UK but has been played in America since the 1960s.

Two or four players use solid paddles, like large table tennis bats, to hit a perforated plastic ball over a net.

Played on a badminton court, the net and rules are similar to tennis but the sport prides itself on being much easier to pick up.

And a fantastic foursome who all play the sport regularly at Cwmbran Stadium have returned from Europe with medals.

South Wales Argus:

Paulette Powell and Janet Price (above) from Caerleon won bronze and Usk duo Richard Strangemore and Richard Welsford took home silver from the Amsterdam tournament, held at the Sporthal De Pijp on behalf of the Dutch Pickleball Association.

Welsford said: “We were representing Wales but unofficially, in the sense that as there are only three clubs in Wales in Torfaen, Pontypool and Llantrisant.

“At present there is no formal Welsh Pickleball Association to select players to play but we market ourselves as Wales and have Cymru-Wales on the back of our shirts.”

Seymour Rifkind, the CEO of the International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association (IPTPA) was present to take coaching sessions to help with skill development.

And a number of professional US players, such as Gigi Lemaster, Jennifer Lucore and Kyle Yates, were also in Amsterdam.

The age of the players ranged from 16 to 84 and the average age at the tournament was 52.

The categories at the tournament were decided by skill level rather than age category as the sport allows people of different ages to compete against each other on a level playing field.