The inaugural UK Padel County Championships were held this weekend at Rocket Padel in Bristol. With twenty counties competing in Men’s, Ladies’ and Mixed events it was a packed weekend of padel at the impressive 12 court indoor centre.
With some of the top players in the UK representing their counties, competition was always going to be tough, but the Channel Islands Team had some impressive results over the two days.
In the Ladies’ event, we were drawn in a group with Cheshire, Devon and Wiltshire. On Saturday, the ladies decisively beat Devon and Cheshire, leaving a Sunday morning must win tie against Wiltshire who had also won their other two group matches. With the scores level at one match all, it came down to a shootout tie-break (first to ten by two clear points), where each county had to select one player from each of the parings used in the tie. Chantelle De La Mare and Helen Polli paired up and played a steady and considered tie-break with some sensational defending to win and put the Ladies’ Team through to the Semi-Finals. There they met Surrey, who were formidable opponents and once again with the scores level at 1-1, it came down to a shootout to progress to the final. This time, the opposition were just too strong and Surrey prevailed to meet Yorkshire in the finals.
In the Men’s event, the Channel Islands were drawn into a tough group with Cheshire, Wiltshire, Yorkshire and Suffolk with some astounding padel with rallies of over a minute across many of the matches, and including a 2 hour match for Aaron Higgins and Olly Cull against Suffolk. The final match between the Channel Islands and Yorkshire would decide the group, with the winner progressing to the semi final stage. The Channel Islands second pair of Olly Cull and Rob West raced to a 1-0 lead winning their rubber 6-1, 6-3. The “pair one” match was tighter with Bero Bobus and Aaron Higgins eventually losing 5-7, 3-6, meaning a shootout would once again decide the winner. However, Yorkshire proved too strong and won 10-4.
In the Mixed Doubles, the Channel Island team easily topped their group beating Hertfordshire and Devon without dropping a set. In the semi-finals they faced Surrey who went through to the finals winning the tie 2-0.
Overall, it was an exceptional weekend of padel with the Channel Islands showing they can compete on the big stages with the very best of the UK in this fast growing sport.
Channel Island’s Team
Men
Bero Bobus
Olly Cull
Matt De La Mare
Aaron HigginsRob West
John Young
Ladies’
Chantelle De La Mare
Chloe De La Mare
Emma Devenport
Katie Inder
Helen Polli
Sara Woolland
Mixed
Chantelle De La Mare
Chloe De La Mare
Sara Woolland
Matt De La Mare
Aaron Higgins
Rob West