The third UK Padel Open County Championships saw a further improvement in our results in this age group.

With the level of Padel in the UK getting stronger each year there were no easy matches.

First up was our mixed (using a fast 4 format in a KO draw) v Oxfordshire a team we had targeted for a win. James Mitchell & Beth Lacey arrived at 1 set all at 4-1,1-4 to set up a championship tie break to 10 which we came through 10-6 to which James was quoted “ I rather like breaks”.

Next on were Fin Robertson & Natalie Ackland who came through two tie break sets 4-3,4-3 to give us a great start to the weekend.

The prize of beating Oxfordshire was a last 16 match v South Wales a team with the UK no 1 Louis Harris and several other top 100 players. Could we do it?

Well even though they rested Louis his partner in the men's Hugo Cochlin played with top 80 player Alex Oulmann so a 4-2,4-2 defeat was something James and Beth could still be pleased with.

The second pair of Fin & Natalie took on a strong Welsh pair to again win two tie break sets 4-3,4-3 to set up our favourite feature of Padel the “shoot out” to 10 when the matches are 1 all.

Fin and Beth were chosen to do Battle with Hugo & Molly Walsh and with excitement building in the tense points being played out the scores ebbed and flowed until finally a result of 10-8 went with .. the other team. We’ve been here before i know. Another couple of points and a mouth-watering tie v top seeds Essex with Bewley and Quirk & Co awaited. Next year…..🤔

Next on was a women’s match we had targeted v Durham & Cleveland, a county that has had a Padel centre of excellence for several years. (Full sets)

A promising start saw Beth Lacey & Kerry Quirk take a tight first set 6-4 by using drop volleys close to the net applying pressure to their short game. A greater use of lobs saw D&C take the set 6-4 to set up a marathon tie break which unfortunately went to D&C 13-11. 

Next on was Natalie & Ines Beeson and using a combination of Ines defensive play and Natalie’s attacking play they scored a great 6-3,6-4 win to set up …..you guessed it another shoot out.

Natalie & Kerry were chosen to bring us home and after some tense opening exchanges D&C held their nerves with a 10-6 score. The one consolation….we won 55% of the games.

Next up was our first men’s match V eighth seeds Buckinghamshire. With Fin and James pairing for the first time against UK top 10 player and recent grade 1 winner George Weller a score of 6-2,6-4 did not reflect how close this match could have been with James reflecting…

“After a slow start we had a better game plan and each game was very competitive with everyone holding serves. There were many games that went to deuce and golden point, but we just couldn’t find a way to break them. 

We were broken at 4-4 from a golden point and couldn’t break back in the final game.”

I have to say this was the highest level of Padel played by a Somerset pairing so far, one for which they can be very proud.

Next on was our No 2 pair of Phil Borrett making a return after 2 years & Alejo Garcigoy making his debut. Some very attacking play saw Bucks break us a few times early on from which the boys couldn’t recover so going into the 2nd set a new approach was needed but after a gallant effort the boys went down 2-0.

Day 2 started at Surge Padel with the Men taking on Leicestershire with debutants and County champions Sam Edwards & Seth Cunningham starting strongly with a fast style going 6-4 up only for Leicestershire to slow the game down for a 6-1 set to force a tie break to 10. A close scoring tie break saw some brave smashes from us to take it 12-10 in front of a gathering crowd who just loved a tie break.

With Fin & James slowly shaking off the efforts of Saturday they came home 6-4,6-3 victors to give us a very enjoyable and well-deserved win to take onto the bigger challenge of the Channel Islands.

A mad dash back to Rocket Padel to support the women saw Kerry & Beth take on two top Uk 90 players from Sussex and with some very clever tactics of taking the ball short they held serve to a tie break to 7 which after some great play went to Sussex. 

The 2nd saw Sussex move us back in the court more to gain the net which saw more aggressive net play allowing them to sneak a 6-3 set and a 2-0 defeat they can still be very proud of against a very experienced pair.

Next on was Natalie & Ines v two experienced padel players who played “aggressively at the net with heavy smashes to test our defensive skills” to which they couldn’t counteract in time to stop a 2-0 defeat.

Without any time to recover Kerry & Beth went on against top seeds and eventual champions Surrey and in buoyant form after Sussex they took Surrey with Amy Cairns a top 10 UK player to a first set tie break. In the 2nd set our smaller squad than Surrey meant having played more matches so we just couldn’t keep the momentum, going down with a fight 6-3.

Next on was Natalie & Ines up against UK top 90 player Daisy Dickson and Steph Cornish. First set to Surrey 6-1 was achieved using aggressive over heads in reply to Somerset’s tactic of using the lob. “We then changed tactics at the end of the first set, and kept the ball low rather than lobbing, and really tried to smash as much as possible to regain the net quicker. It worked enabling us to take the 2nd set. In the end, 1 or 2 errors cost us the champions tie break”. This was however a truly remarkable effort at the end of a long weekend. 

With the women’s matches now completed we all gathered for the men v Channel Islands. First on was Seth & Sam v Olly Cull & Liam De la mere both in the top 15 UK rankings so a huge challenge ensued as they ran away with the first set 6-1 only for us to just lose the 2nd set with one break 6-4. 

On went Fin & James v top 80 player Cameron Gomes & Aaran Higgins and with a very high level of Padel the first set went to them 6-3 with just one break. However, with insane levels of Padel our boys fought all the way to 4 all and just lost out 6-4 with one break against. It was a great final match to end a superb weekend. 

So, another county weekend in which we have made significant improvements in all our three teams' performance. With many of our players having a low or no ranking at all taking on top 10 UK players and doing so well was an outstanding effort.

Finally, a big thanks to all the players who committed to county training sessions and to all our supporters who definitely made themselves heard.

With new Padel Venues arriving in Taunton to add to the existing indoor venue at Evercreech the future looks even better for the padel players of Somerset. Already over 1000 players have played Padel in Somerset over 1 month for the first time!

Somerset Padel have big plans for 2026 including a junior programme that has already been trialled along with access to Padel for those with a disability. Should you wish to find out about any aspect of Padel please email stuartafarrar@outlook.com

Stuart Farrar
Somerset Padel