Seven young British pairs had an “incredible experience” in Budapest at last week’s FIP European Junior Padel Championships thanks to the support of Chris Warren and Alex Grilo from Rocks Lane Padel Academy.
Rocks Lane offered 14 of Great Britain’s most promising juniors training sessions at their club in Chiswick, west London ahead of the trip. Chris and Alex then joined the players and their families in Budapest, which for many was their first taste of international competition.
As reported by The Padel Paper, the LTA elected not to send a GB team to the team competition, but British pairings were at liberty to enter the ‘pairs’ event, with parents funding the trip themselves.
“What an incredible experience the young GB padel team players have had this past week in Budapest,” said Chris on Rocks Lane Padel’s Instagram.
“Thanks to the dedicated boys and girls, their wonderfully supportive and proactive families, the invaluable knowledge, experience and guidance of team coach Alex Grilo and the support of Chris Warren and Rocks Lane Padel.
“The teams and families have made a lot of new contacts and friends in their padel community. All [are] suitably convinced that they were more than ready to compete with the other nations in Europe and to do GB proud. An experience they will never forget and are eager to repeat!”
Here’s how each British pairings fared:
Boys U14
Andrew Dunn & Harley Dixon: Andrew and Harley, who both play at Smash Padel Bicester, received a first-round bye, then beat Spanish pair Cesar Gross Correro and Antonio Abad Diaz 6-4 6-2, before bowing out to eventual semi-finalists Juan Conesa Garcia and Alex Alcega 6-0 6-1
Olly Grantham & Jesse Warren: multi-talented Olly and Rocks Lane’s own Jesse lost to Norwegian pair Jesper Czwartek and Max Huse 3-6 6-4 6-1 in the first round
Joel Oyedele & Luka Porath-Petersen: after a bye, the boys lost 6-1 6-0 to the eventual finalists from Spain, Mario Brocal Aviles and Ian Garcia Calvo
Boys U16
Stan Hunt & Liam de la Mare (pictured above in white): Stan and Guernsey-based Liam also received a bye, then had an incredibly tough draw against eventual winners Manuel Castano and Juan Zamora Perez of Spain, which they lost 6-1 6-0
Girls U16
Rosie Quirk & Chloe de la Mare: this established pair smashed a Hungarian duo 6-0 6-0 in the first round, but were then defeated 6-3 7-5 by Italians Bianca Ferretti and Lucrezia Piernera, who went on to reach the semi-finals
Boys U18
Oliver Hayday & Oscar Warneryd: after a bye, these friends from the GB U18 squad lost to Italians Matteo Platania and Matteo Sargolini 7-5 6-2 in a very competitive match
Logan Macey & Ben Welsford: after a bye, Logan and Ben went down to Italians Guiseppe Fino and Francesco Spurio 6-2 6-2
Stan Hunt reflected: “Hungary was a fantastic experience I am so glad we went. It was great to have hundreds of junior players in one place and was such a good atmosphere in the hotel and at the courts.
“Liam and I had a great opportunity to play Coquito in the first round – they went on to win the tournament without dropping a set. Just a shame we came up against them straight away and it was our only game!”
Chloe de la Mare said: “It was a great experience because I love playing with Rosie and it gave us the chance to see how we compare to some of the best junior players in Europe.” Her partner Rosie Quirk added: “I really enjoyed competing against the best teams in the Europe. What a great experience!”
Chloe’s brother Liam (above right) said: “It was a very good opportunity to be able to showcase the level of UK junior padel, however we were unlucky to draw the eventual winners first round.”
Liam and Chloe’s mum Lucienne told us: “[Making the trip] was a difficult decision as, unlike the teams event where plenty of matches are guaranteed, the pairs is a knock-out event so we ran the very real risk of literally playing one match, but we thought we would give it a go. It was a great experience for them both.”
Logan Macey called the trip his “best sporting experience to date!” He added: “I learnt so much and made a lot of new friends, not just in Team GB but all over Europe!! An unforgettable experience.”
Check out all the results from the FIP European Junior Padel Championships (pairs) here
