Great Britain’s senior padel teams finish strong at the FIP Senior European Padel Championships 2023
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Great Britain’s men’s and women’s senior padel teams put in strong performances at the FIP Senior European Padel Championships in Alicante, Spain, last week.
Great Britain’s men’s and women’s senior padel teams put in strong performances at the FIP Senior European Padel Championships in Alicante, Spain, last week.
The British women’s Seniors team (over 40s, 45s and 50 finished eighth out of 15 teams in the competition. Meanwhile, the Super Seniors women’s squad (over 50s, 55s and 60s) came fifth out of nine teams.
On the men’s side, the Seniors team just lost out in their final tie against the Netherland’s – placing them 10th out of 16 – with the Super Seniors beating Austria to finish ninth.
Spain won the gold medal in all four categories, with Sweden coming second in the Senior women’s, men’s and the Super Senior men’s events. France clinched their only silver medal in the Super Seniors women’s.
“Many congratulations to all the men’s and women’s GB Senior teams who took part in the European Senior Championships,” said LTA Padel Performance Manager, Matt Stanforth.
“A big thank you to Sally Fisher, Timothy Edwards and Peter Vann who do a significant amount of work behind the scenes for the Senior squads and leading up to the Championships, and to the coaches, John Leach, Nikhil Mohinidra who supported the men’s teams at the event. I’d also like to thank Nigel Garton who has coached the women’s squad in national training camps and in the build-up to the Europeans Championships. Well done to everyone involved.”
The tournament saw 17 nations come together, with almost 500 players competing in a week-long competition at the Ciudad Deportiva Camilo Ciano in La Nucia.
The growing number of competitions in Great Britain has given more opportunities to British players to develop their skills on home soil.
“The speed at which our top players are improving is phenomenal and very pleasing,” said women’s manager Sally Fisher in an interview with The Padel Paper. “That has been really helped by the LTA increasing the number of tournaments for seniors.”
Women’s team captain Jo Ward also said: “That was an unbelievable experience and I’m still buzzing from the whole week. For us, as a nation where the sport is so new, for the women to place eighth and fifth feels like we’ve got good momentum and a lot to build on for next year’s World Championships. We’re definitely punching above our weight.”
Women's Seniors team
- 40+: Sara Lochrie & Kerry White
- 45+: Jo Ward & Libby Fletcher
- 50+: Helen Crook & Dawn Foxhall
- Reserves: Kate Hands & Anthea Hunt
Women's Super Seniors team
- 50+: Louise Baker & Nicky Horn
- 55+: Emma Davenport & Sally Fisher
- 60+: Sally Bickerton, Rosie Connell & Audrey Henderson
- Reserve: Karen Hunter
Men's Seniors team
- 40+: Richard Brooks, Ben Gudzelak, Javier Etayo & Ali Anderson
- 45+: John Leach, Grantley Harris, Bero Bobus & Martin Calvert
- 50+: Darren Quilty, Drew Warren, Gavin Thompson & Ahmad Butt
Men's Super Seniors team
- 50+: Sergio Munez, Will Wells, Paul Coeulle & Simon Dickinson
- 55+: Chris Warren, John Byrne, Tim Webb & Mike Jenkins
- 60+: Nick Holloway, Bjorn Schroder, Michael Gordon & Paul Thomas
