スロベニア西端の海辺の街ポルトロスで7月26日の週末に開かれたPPA125大会で、英国のケイティ・モリスが女子ダブルスと混合ダブルスの2種目を制した。米Forbesは彼女がこの週末に「ダブルダブル」を掴んだと報じている。アドリア海を挟んでベネチアと向かい合う会場に集まったのは主に欧州の選手たちで、表彰台の名前も欧州出身者が並んだ。米国発の競技で、欧州の女子選手が地元大会の頂点を独占した構図は、これから普及期に入る日本の女子競技を考えるうえで示唆に富む。
女子ダブルスはクラウディア・カイメル・ロメロ、混合はベン・カウストンと組んだモリスの2冠
According to Forbes' weekly recap, Morris won women's doubles with Claudia Caymel Romero and mixed doubles with Ben Cawston. One player taking two events in the same weekend means both partnerships clicked. Winning different events with different partners takes the adaptability to keep your own game while matching a partner's timing. No striking scorelines survive in the record, but the simple fact that she went through in two events shows Morris stood a head above the rest of the women's field here.
Portoroz, the host town, is one of the places where the PPA laid down its first standing series in Europe.The PPA Tour's first European event and where the Slovenian 125 sitsis covered in a separate article. Leaving how the event came about to that piece, this one focuses on the winners, and on the women's side in particular.
Hungary, Spain and Germany on the podium - a weekend Europe ran
The 125 in this event's name means it is worth one-eighth of a standard PPA tournament. Its contribution to the rankings is small, but the field reflected where Europe stands. Listing the winners Forbes named, by event:
| Event | Winner | From |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s doubles | Katie Morris / Claudia Caymel Romero | United Kingdom and others |
| Mixed doubles | Katie Morris / Ben Cawston | UK |
| Men's Doubles | Louis Laville / Tom Protzek | England, Germany |
| Men's singles | Bálint Bakó | Hungary |
| Women's singles | Sabrina Méndez Domínguez | Spanish descent |
In men's singles Bakó beat Spain's Josep Cañadell, another all-European final. Top American players have little reason to travel long distances for a 125 event. Put the other way, precisely because the event carries less weight, it becomes a place for European players to get real matches near home and bring back wins and experience. Keeping the base of a sport turning takes events on that scale.
200,000 players and 2.5-fold growth: the British base behind Morris
Crediting Morris' two titles to her skill alone misses the background. Pickleball in Britain has thickened quickly over the past few years. Roughly 200,000 people are estimated to play regularly in the United Kingdom, about 2.5 times the 2023 figure. Membership of the governing body Pickleball England has also grown to about 15,000, up nearly 80% year on year. Its flagship event, the English Open, expects more than 3,000 player entries in 2026.
With a base that large, players get plenty of serious matches at home. Players tempered domestically then go to continental events and win. Morris' two titles read as an early example of that circuit starting to work. What Japanese women players lack right now is exactly this number of matches worth winning.
Multiple women's titles, echoing Dikosavljevic's treble in Australia
The sight of one woman carrying off several titles at a single event is not limited to Europe. In Australia,a player with nine wins from 15 events swept three titles at a domestic event. The thinner the top of a market, the more likely one standout wins across events. Morris in Portoroz fits much the same structure.
That is proof of strength and, at the same time, the flip side of a thin field. In Southeast Asia,an event for 160 women grew out of the regions in Sabah, Malaysia, and the participant base has started to widen. Multiple titles at the top, more people at the base: regions where both move at once step up to the next competitive level. Europe is at that doorway now.
What this looks like applied to women's competition in Japan
日本は2026年4月に日本ピックルボール協会と日本連盟が統合し、新体制「PJ」が発足した。8月には八王子で最大24コートの体験フェスが開かれ、12月には東京で全国規模の選手権が控えている。器は整いつつある。足りないのは、女子選手が国内で数多く真剣勝負を重ね、その先に欧州やアジアの大会で勝ちを狙う——という一本の道筋だ。
What Morris' two titles show is the order of things: the environment grows before the talent. Membership rises, events multiply, and players tempered there win abroad. Women's competition in Japan is still at the stage of building up the number of real matches at home. The podium in Portoroz could be a picture in miniature of Japan a few years from now.
