TORFAEN Pickleball Club (TPC) members returned from Madrid with two medals after competing in the Spanish Open Pickleball Tournament.

More than 300 players from all over the world took part, with 16 Torfaen players making the trip.

Janet Price and Dai Watkins claimed gold in the mixed over-60 category, while Sue Smith and Alan Nixon won silver in the mixed over-55 category.

Teammate Richard Welsford said: “The 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.”

Pickleball is a hybrid of badminton, table and lawn tennis played on a court of similar size to one used in badminton with paddles slightly smaller than a tennis racquet and made from plastic.

TPC now has nearly 60 members who enjoy playing pickleball regularly at Cwmbran Stadium on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, from 10am to noon, and on Friday evenings from 7pm to 9pm.

Club chairman John 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 Nations 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.”