Great Britain’s boys’ and girls’ teams suffered agonisingly close defeats to the Netherlands and Germany respectively to cut short their FIP Junior World Cup campaign in Reus, Spain.
The GB boys’ team won 10 matches out of 12 across their four qualification fixtures over the weekend — but after topping their group with 3-0 victories over Finland, Switzerland and Hungary, the Dutch proved a step too far in the European qualifying semi-final and GB missed out on the main draw.
The girls were handed a brutal qualifying draw with Belgium, Denmark and Germany in their group. After losing 2-1 to Belgium and beating Denmark by the same scoreline, it came down to the Germany match, which they lost in the deciding rubber.
Later, Germany and Belgium both won their semi-finals to seal berths in the main draw, proving the strength of the opponents GB faced.
The tournament marked the first time that the LTA had provided funding to support both boys’ and girls’ teams’ participation in overseas competition. The 17-player British squad was led by a team of coaches — Libby Fletcher and Frankie Langan for the boys and Miguel Carmalho and Lisa Phillips for the girls.
Boys
Each fixture consisted of three matches: U14, U16 and U18. During a 9-0 clean sweep in their European qualifying group, Jules Bakunowicz (U14), Oliver Grantham (U16) and Ben Phillips (U18) were the stand-out performers.
Topping their group set up a qualifying semi-final with the Netherlands and the prospect of a place in the main draw, which would have extended the team’s stay in Reus by a week.
Jules Bakunowicz partnered Andrew Dunn to win the opening (U14) match 6-4, 6-4; then GB’s U16 pair Grantham and Vincent Bakunowicz held several set points in the second set in a tight 6-4, 7-6 defeat.
Ben Phillips and Liam de la Mare couldn’t force victory in the deciding tie, going down 6-4, 6-3 against a strong Dutch pair.
Girls
After losing 2-1 to Belgium in their opener, then beating the Danes by the same score, the girls’ duel with Germany took on winner-takes-all status, as it would decide who finished second in the group.
Elizabeth Vellacott and Rosie Allen lost the U14 tie 6-0, 6-2, but star duo Rosie Quirk and Chloe de la Mare maintained their 100% record for the weekend by taking the second tie 6-2, 6-0.
In the U18 decider, Aimee Connolly and Heidi Ellis battled hard but went down 7-6, 6-3 to German pair Larissa Bieling and Luisa Hernandez.
Reaction
“Our boys were unlucky to lose to the Dutch who are a very strong padel nation at the moment,” said LTA National Performance Pathway Manager, Libby Fletcher. “The boys were pretty gutted but there are loads and loads of positives to take from it.
“For the girls, Aimee and Heidi performed beyond our expectations in that last match against Germany. They defended incredibly well and lost out in a close tussle.
“To experience pulling on a GB shirt was amazing for the kids. It’s special for them represent their country.
“We’re building a new structure, with Miguel from SmashPadel joining us alongside experienced role models in Lisa Phillips and Frankie Langan. All three of them were in new positions, they stepped up and outweighed my expectations.”
Check out all results from the 2025 FIP Junior World Cup on the FIP website
Pic credits: FIP
