Great Britain will face the cream of European padel in the Final 8 of the FIP Euro Padel Cup from 21-25 October in La Línea de la Concepción in Cádiz, Spain.
Both GB men’s and women’s teams magnificently sealed their qualification for the climatic third stage of the revamped European Championships earlier this month by finishing top of their respective groups in Phase 2 of the competition in Madrid.
Now, both GB teams and the the respective three other qualifying nations from Phase 2 (Netherlands, Sweden and Germany men; Netherlands, Germany and Belgium women) will take on the might of Spain, Italy, France and Portugal who had already qualified based on the FIP European team rankings.
In both men’s and women’s competitions, the Final 8 will begin with a group stage featuring two groups of four teams each, to be played from October 21-23. Each match-up will consist of three ties. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals on Friday 24 October, with finals and third-place play-offs on Saturday 25 October.
GB Juniors and Seniors also set for action
The FIP Euro Padel Cup denouement will be just one event in a packed October for Great Britain’s padel teams.
The Padel Paper understands that the LTA will enter teams in all age categories (U14, U16 and U18) of the FIP Junior World Cup, to be held in Reus in the Costa Daurada region of Spain from 29 September – 5 October.
The LTA were criticised in some quarters for opting not to send teams to the European Junior Championships last year in Budapest due to “a lack of players.” But they have committed this year to pitching Britain’s best junior talent into the mix with their worldwide counterparts, clearly encouraged by progress from the likes of Rosie Quirk, Liam and Chloe de la Mare, Oliver Grantham, Andrew Dunn and others.
The FIP Junior World Cup clashes with another major international competition, the FIP Seniors Euro Padel Cup, which has been scheduled for precisely the same dates (29 September – 5 October) in Cartegena, Spain.
The date clash will be unfortunate for many who work in dual roles across juniors and seniors, including Libby Fletcher, who plays in the GB Seniors team but is also coach of the GB junior team in her role as National Performance Pathway Manager.
