A Frome teenager has won gold at a major pickleball competition, completing a clean sweep of medals in just over a year.
Kai Santano, 15, took first place in the men’s doubles at the Taunton Summer Championships on 22nd and 23rd August, partnering Stuart Whan, to claim his first-ever gold.
The result marks another step forward for Kai, who has previously won bronze and silver medals at national competitions.
He won bronze at the Pickleball English Open before taking silver in the Young Persons Championships in Stourbridge in June this year in the mixed-age doubles alongside 11-year-old Seb Oprea.
Kai, who attends Frome College, has been playing pickleball since January 2025.
His silver medal came only four months after he returned to the sport following surgery for a double break to his left arm and a partial wrist dislocation, sustained in a skateboarding accident at Victoria Park.
Kai trains for three hours a week in Sherborne and also plays in a junior pickleball league in Hampshire.
The sport combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis and is played on a badminton-sized court with a slightly modified tennis net.
Pictured: Kai with partner Stuart Whan
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