A big British contingent competed at last weekend’s FIP Silver Utrecht in the Netherlands as part of team preparations for next week’s FIP Euro Padel Cup in Madrid.
Fourteen British players took part in the tournament at the fabulous Jaarbeursplein venue which has four-tier spectator seating looming over centre court. This followed a GB training camp with the Dutch national team.
The British team fly to Madrid on Tuesday 8 July and begin their Euro Padel Cup campaign in the reformatted and renamed European Championships on Friday 11 July. The draws takes place the night before.
British no.1 Christian Medina Murphy warmed up nicely for the Euros with a run to the Utrecht quarter-finals alongside Spaniard Alberto Garcia Jimenez. They were defeated 7-5, 6-2 by Albert Trillas Garcia and Guillem Figuerola Santiago.
Three British players reached the women’s quarter-finals; GB no.1 Aimee Gibson and no.2 Catherine Rose teamed up again as fifth seeds but went down 6-4, 7-5 to second-seeded Spaniards Agueda Perez Ortiz and Marta Borrero.
GB no.3 Tia Norton and partner Stephanie Weterings, the sixth seeds, lost to fourth-seeded duo Victoria Kurz and Marcella Koek in the last eight.
GB men’s coaches Sandy Farquharson and John Leach were keeping tabs on Mikhil Mohindra and Spanish-born Brit Jamie Lobo, who could be paired together at the Euros in Madrid.
They got through qualifying as lucky losers, then went down in round one of the main draw 6-4, 7-5 to Henrique Barbosa and Oscar Guiral Mallart.
Another potential pairing in Madrid, Tom Farquharson and Samuel Jones, started in the main draw but were defeated 6-2, 7-6 by a Dutch pair.
Cameron Dollimore, who is not in the GB squad for the Euros, lost 6-4, 6-2 in round one alongside Dutchman Robin Sietsma.
Two members of the GB women’s squad, Hanna Maddock and Lisa Phillips, ended up facing each other in round one in Utrecht. It was Phillips, partnering Spain’s Marta Eugenio Barrera, who came out on top 6-2, 6-4. Phillips and Barrera lost to Gibson and Rose 6-3, 6-3 in the next round.
We’ll have a full preview package ahead of the FIP Euro Padel Cup later this week.
