Chris Warren described the inaugural Euro Padel League (EPL) season as “an extraordinary journey” after Sweden’s Järfälla Padel Club beat the home team in last weekend’s finale at Rocks Lane in London.
The highly-anticipated EPL London 2024 weekend showcased high-level amateur padel and celebrated the sport’s growing popularity across Europe with a host of special events and competitions.
Chris, founder of Rocks Lane Padel and the EPL, commented: “The EPL pilot season has proven to be an extraordinary journey, and the finale at Rocks Lane was the perfect culmination.
“The victory of the Vikings of Järfälla underscores the competitive spirit and talent present in amateur padel across Europe – indeed it is emblematic of why we founded this competition. The enthusiasm and support shown by the players, spectators, and sponsors, epitomises why we all love this sport.”
Event Highlights
The EPL London 2024 event kicked off on 4 July with the EPL Sprint Pro AM competition featuring a mix of professional and elite padel players with an array of celebrities and influencers from across the worlds of sport and entertainment.
Padel players Rafa Vega and Kristin Price were accompanied by former Olympian and TV Personality Heather Fisher and three Team GB rugby sevens players, Alex Davis, Will Homer and Harry Glover. This was followed by an EPL Academy Session for the Sprint Pro AM and academy juniors from ex-world tour padel player Alex Grilo.
Alongside the main event matches, Friday also featured the EPL Corporate Cup, with players from some of the EPL’s corporate sponsors and event supporters, including Pokita, Pitch International, Savills, Execuzen, EvolutionAI Ltd, Vitamin Well, NOCCO UK, Barebell Bars UK, All Out Padel and Stars Padel Samobor. In the end, it was Team Stars Padel that emerged victorious against All Out Padel in the competition.
Following two days of intense action, it was the Vikings of Järfälla who came through their semi-final with a 3-0 victory against Marbella Sun, and the final with a 2-1 victory against home side London Rocks to claim the maiden trophy. With London Rocks defeating Villamoura & Friends 3-0 in the semi-final, they secured a runner-up position.
The final standings were as follows:
1st: Vikings of Järfälla
2nd: London Rocks (London, UK)
Joint 3rd: Marbella Sun (Marbella, Spain) and Vilamoura & Friends (Algarve, Portugal)
5th: Rocks Lane Legends (London, UK)
6th: Riviera Icons (Grasse, France)
7th: Northern Lights (UK)
8th: iPadel AllStars (UK)
The event highlighted padel’s ability to drive community engagement and excitement at amateur level. The EPL remains committed to developing the next generation of padel talent through its Rising Stars Programme.
Chris (pictured above, right) added: “It has been a fantastic pilot season that’s proven the EPL concept not only works, but that it will thrive as the sport booms across the continent. I can’t wait for the first official season of the EPL (the 2024 – 2025 Season) to get underway in September, with the expanded roster to include teams from Milan, Belfast, Zagreb, Roma, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam.
“To further heighten the excitement of the league, the new season will kick off at Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Padel Zenter in Milan, a venue co-created by the football legend and Swedish padel pioneer Thomas Sandstrom.
“The new season will also represent the EPL Women’s competition’s inception, which will mirror the men’s competition. This move, we believe, accurately reflects padel’s status as a sport with equal appeal for both women and men across the world,” he added.
The Euro Padel League and EPL London were proud to be sponsored by: Babolat, Playtomic, Padel Courts Deluxe, Go Mate Drinks, EXECUZEN, Savills, Altimus Outdoor, Easipadel, POKITA, VIBEPADEL, GREEN & PURPLE, room2 Chiswick hometel, Chiswick Physio, Padelshack, Vitamin Well, NOCCO UK, Barebells UK, Sipello, ELEAT, Pitch International, and EvolutionAI.
