Great Britain’s men finish World Padel Championships in 14th place
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Great Britain’s men's team finished their campaign at the World Padel Championships in Dubai after a tight 2-1 loss against the Netherlands. The loss was Britain’s first since Wednesday, when they missed on a place in the quarter-finals, and means they finished in a final placing of 14th in the 17-nation tournament.
On Friday, Britain had defeated Egypt 2-1, which followed on from back-to-back victories against the hosts, UAE, and Qatar on Thursday, both of which resulted in clean sweep 3-0 victories for John Leach’s British side.
Facing a tough Dutch side, Chris Salisbury and Frank Langan opened the tie with a 6-4, 6-3 loss, before the final result was wrapped up after British No.1 Christian Medina Murphy and Richard Brooks were defeated by Sietsma and Uriel Maarsen 7-6, 6-1.
The Brits salvaged one rubber in the tie after Van Opstal and Menno Nolten were forced to retire against Sandy Farquharson and Louie Harris.
“It was a tough loss this morning," said Great Britain's men's captain, John Leach.
"The Netherlands are a good side, and our boys gave it their all, fighting until the last point but unfortunately just fell short so, naturally, we are disappointed we didn’t come away with a victory on the last day.
“Overall, however, I’m very proud of the team. The whole team fought for every match and every point they played. This week has been a massive learning curve for these young players.
"These matches are crucial for their development, and I’ve taken a lot of insights and gained a lot of information about the players which, as a coach, is important for when they come up against these nations and experienced players. We’ll use our learnings to help develop the team going forward; it’s been a learning curve for everyone involved and is an experience the players will never forget. We will use this experience to make us a better team.”
