Four of the UK’s most promising young padel players were “inspired” by their trip to Alicante last week where they became the first GB juniors to play in a FIP Promises event.
Chloe and Liam De La Mare, Stan Hunt and Rosie Quirk are all part of the recently announced GB Junior squad. Chloe and Rosie recently became the youngest ever winners of an LTA Grade 2 event, aged 13 and 14 respectively. Chloe is now ranked no.9 in the LTA open rankings and Rosie is 17th. They are ranked one and two in the U18 girls’ category. Chloe’s brother Liam is ranked 64th in the men’s open rankings and he and Stan are one and three in the U16 boys’ rankings.
The FIP Promises Tour was set up by the International Padel Federation in 2023 to encourage junior padel players to compete internationally. The number of events and participants yearhas doubled year on year. In 2024, the Promises tour travels to 17 locations across Europe and South America with events in U14, U16 and U18 categories.
Chloe, Rosie, Liam and Stan are all coached by Dan Troy of the DT Padel Academy who has worked with many of the current GB team and has trained with some of Spain’s most celebrated
coaches.
Aware that the kids were not facing stiff opposition in their age range at home, Dan organised last week’s trip to Spain to allow them the chance to train with Spanish coaches before testing themselves against some of the world’s top juniors.
Liam and Stan faced tough opposition in their first round match against the no.2 seeds, Aaron Garcia Rubio and José Domingo Martinez Garcia. Aaron Garcia Rubio is also the U14 Junior World champion. In a closely fought match, Liam and Stan outperformed expectations but lost 6-2, 6-3.
Liam said: “I felt like we played really well. They were obviously very good, but we were always in the games, even if we lost them, so I don’t feel like we are actually that far off the level over here in Europe.”
In the back draw, they didn’t find any easier opposition, facing the no.32 ranked U16 player in the world, Lucca Carlesso Leaes, and Agustin Alvarez Puente, from Brazil and Ecuador respectively.The experience of the Latin American pair proved too much for the British duo and they lost 6-2, 6-2.
Stan reflected: “To be able to come out here and play against some of the best juniors has been a great experience for us. Although we didn’t win, we played well and it has inspired us to keep training as we now know we can be competitive on the world stage.”
Rosie and Chloe put in some super strong performances in the U16 age category where many players were a couple of years older than them. After winning their first round match convincingly 6-3, 6-3, they lost 6-2, 6-4 in the quarter-finals to the Spanish pairing of Covadonga Verdejo Saiz and Ines Mendoza Palazón. Covadonga is the current no.1 in the FIP Junior rankings and the second highest ranked junior in Spain.
Chloe said: “Rosie and I have only been playing together since March so to get a win in our first FIP Promises event has been amazing. We had chances against the best ranked junior in Spain and I can’t wait till we have the opportunity to try again!”
Partner Rosie added: “When I started playing padel six months ago, I never imagined that I would be competing at this level. I am loving playing with Chloe and we are both so excited for the future.”
Coach Dan reflected on an amazing weekend of competition for these four rising stars: “This has been an amazing experience for the kids to come here and test themselves against literally the best players in the world in their age group.
“To be competitive at such early stages of their padel journeys is just amazing. I am so proud of them all and how they have represented the DT Padel Academy with such professionalism and joyfulness. It shows that with good training, structure and support, these juniors have the capabilities to really progress in the sport to a much higher level.”
Despite the LTA deciding not to send a team to the European Junior Championships later this year, the two pairs are hoping to travel to Budapest to compete in the open pairs event, if they can secure some funding to help cover the extensive travel costs of playing on the continent.
They also hope to secure additional funding to the generous help already provided by Padel Shack, to allow them to travel to more FIP Promises events later this year and next, as well as for training blocks on the continent.
