Imani Phillips has summed up her silver medal-winning exploits at the English Open Pickleball tournament as a truly “amazing experience”.

Playing for the first time at the event, Bermuda’s top pickleball player and her partner, Lily Hallet, won the silver medal in the women’s doubles after losing to Megan Bignell and Katy Taylor 15-10 in the gold-medal match at the Telford International Centre at the weekend.

“It was an amazing experience and I am really happy with the result,” Phillips told The Royal Gazette.

The duo picked up four wins to advance to the knockout rounds from group B and booked their spot in the final courtesy of a 11-8 triumph over the pair of Emma and Helen Monson.

“It was really good to be at the tournament. I love the English Open and love meeting so many people from different countries,” Phillips said.

Phillips was kept busy on the court throughout the tournament, having also competed in the women’s singles and mixed doubles.

She was eliminated at the group stage in the singles after managing one win from her four matches to finish fourth among the five competitors in group C.

One of her losses came against American Alexa Schull, who plays on the professional APP circuit.

“The match with Alexa was something that was super important to me,” Phillips said.

“She is an APP pro, so to be toe-to-toe with her like that was a really good way for me to see my level and understand where I am at.

“I was down 7-2 and just completely shifted the momentum and brought it back to 9-8 and then she took the win [11-8].”

The Bermudian’s sole victory in the singles came in her third match against Schull’s compatriot, Isabella Nelson, whom she beat 11-8.

Phillips enjoyed competing in the mixed doubles with Jerry Beck, despite failing to get a win under their belt.

“It was a really cool experience and I enjoyed playing with Jerry,” she said.

“The shortness of the games, I think, kind of bit us. We weren’t able to get in any of them, but they were all close and good matches.”

The professional hopeful was one of the 2,400 players that competed in the fifth edition of the tournament, the biggest pickleball event outside the United States.

Phillips went into the tournament on a high after producing her deepest run competing on the professional scene last month at the Next Generation St Louis APP event.

The law graduate narrowly missed out on a medal after losing 15-13 to Brooke Revuelta in the play-off for third place at the event which featured the 80 top under-23 players in the United States.