Pic: WPT
Great Britain No.1 Christian Medina Murphy has handed Team GB head coach John Leach a massive boost ahead of Sunday’s XVI World Padel Championship draw by declaring himself in the “best physical and mental form” of his career.
Murphy spearheaded the British men’s successful World Championship qualifier campaign at We Are Padel in Derby last month which culminated in a final shoot-out against a Germany side who had knocked GB out of last year’s world championships in Qatar.
Despite having to dash back from his sister’s wedding in Spain, Murphy got off the plane to partner Sam Jones to an epic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory at the top of the order that rubber-stamped British tickets for the Aviation Club just a stone’s throw away from the Dubai Duty Free Stadium.
With a first ever prize pot of €500,000 to be distributed equally between the men’s and women’s championships Murphy admits that Sunday night’s draw for the initial group stages will provide a stiff test of the stiff British upper lip no matter the opposition.
Yet the outstanding No.1, who combines the graceful yet dynamic movement of a panther on the deck with exceptional hands and a prodigious leap to dispatch overheads when airborne, is upbeat about the team’s prospects and has tagged this GB side as the best he has played in.
Murphy said: “I will be playing in my fourth World Championships and for sure that experience is important. I feel I have grown up as a player in these last two years and have learned so much and have improved a great deal and I feel like I am going to Dubai in the best form physically and mentally of my career.
“I am 24 now, I am trying to improve year to year but from Qatar last time around I have improved a lot and am now at my best level and this is a great chance to prove that.
“I also feel that as a team we have the strongest group with which I have played. We have a very good team spirit; we have a very good bond and we are all friends and I think that in the tough moments that can make a very big difference.”
Murphy also has no doubt that his side’s successful negotiation of the perils of qualifying will be sending them to the Middle East primed and ready to fire: “I think Derby (World Championship European Qualifiers) was very important to us. If you go straight to the World Championships like the last one then I think you don’t really feel like a team, maybe don’t feel that you really earned your place at the World Championships,” said Christian.
The GB No.1 continued: “But for us to beat Germany in the qualifiers was huge for us and it gave us so much confidence because they beat us in the last World Championships and for me this proves that we have improved and progressed as a group since last year.
“It is so important to have the confidence that we have been able to take from beating a good German side as we did and also how we did it with it going to the final match and Sam and I coming through.
“So we had the opportunity to play together in Derby and we are well prepared but the other teams have also been preparing well for the World Championships and been in camp.
“This is the first World Champs with prize money and everything has moved on and become that bit more professional as a result.
“So I think all the teams will be well prepared but for us Derby gave us a great opportunity to play and train together is a competitive environment and under a lot of pressure and that is a big plus for us.”
The forearm injury that has robbed head coach Leach of the services of Ryan Wyatt and was first revealed in The Padel Paper has meant Francis Langan has been drafted in as his replacement but Murphy says he has total confidence in the latter’s ability to cut the competitive mustard when the heat gets turned up in Dubai next week.
Murphy fired: “I haven’t seen Frankie play recently but I have confidence in John and his selection of Frankie means that he will be good to go and of course he is very experienced.
“It is sad that Ryan is out of the team due to injury but Francis will be a great replacement and I am sure he will have a good week.
“In terms of myself it is difficult to know who I will be playing with as the draw will not be made until Sunday night and John will not make his decisions until we know that and it may vary from match to match.
“Then you have to factor in who is training well or if there are any small injuries, so I think it will be match by match and I have 100% confidence in John’s decisions.
“So on Sunday we will know what group we are in and who we will be playing and take it from there.”
Murphy has set his side a target of a top-two group placing to ensure a quarter-final berth and automatic qualification for the XVII World Championships but knows that will prove a real test of Team GB’s mettle and he admitted: “There are so many strong countries, you have Spain, Argentina, Brazil, France, Italy and Portugal and they will be really tough and we have to hope we don’t have two really strong countries in our group as we need to be in the top two to make the quarter final.
“It is nice to play against the best countries but I focus on playing at my maximum and it is also important that our team play to our best and then we will see how that goes.
“For sure the target must be to try and qualify from the group and if we do that we know we will have qualified for the next World Championships. There are four teams in each group and two qualify for the quarters but I believe it is a realistic target for this Great Britain team to make the last eight.”
