A teenager from Frome has won a silver medal at a national pickleball championship just months after returning to the sport following a serious arm injury.
Kai Santano, 15, competed in the Young Persons Championships at Courtside in Stourbridge in June, taking second place in the mixed-age doubles category alongside 11-year-old Seb Oprea.
The result comes only four months after Kai returned to play following surgery for a double break to his left arm and a partial wrist dislocation, sustained while skateboarding in Victoria Park just one week before he was due to compete in the National Championships.
His mum Laurie said, “He absolutely destroyed his arm and was in a full cast from October until December. He wasn’t allowed to do any contact sports until 1st February. He’s done really well to get back into it.”
Kai, who attends Frome College, has been playing pickleball since January last year and previously won bronze at the Pickleball English Open. The sport combines the elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis, played on a badminton-sized court with a slightly modified tennis net.
After winning a silver medal, Kai is now hoping to win gold with his doubles partner.
“They worked really well together and so off the back of this success, the other player’s parents have asked if they would like to compete again in August in Birmingham,” said Laurie.
Kai trains for three hours a week in Sherborne and has joined a junior pickleball league in Hampshire, reflecting growing interest in the sport in the UK.
There is also a potential opportunity for him to be selected for England to compete in Vietnam in September, although the selection process has not yet taken place.
Long-term, he hopes to gain sponsorship to propel his pickleball career further.
“The more we compete, the more exposure he gets with people seeing him,” said Laurie. “It is just me and Kai, so it can be expensive but once he gains sponsorship, I think there will be no stopping him.”
