Tia Norton heads to Cagliari for next week’s European Padel Championships in the “bizarre” position of being the youngest yet most experienced member of the team.
The 20-year-old has been on the GB women’s padel team since she was 12, when she reached the World Junior Championships quarter-finals in Mexico. She has played in more major team events than any other GB women’s team member, yet she is the baby of the group (12 years younger than her playing partner Aimee Gibson).
“It is a bit bizarre,” she told The Padel Paper. “But I don’t think I know too much more than anyone else just because I’m more experienced. We’re all used to competing. The best thing is that we’ll have a lot of support; from each other, coaches, friends and family. It is a very special occasion to represent your country.”
The dynamic of Tia’s partnership with Aimee at the Euros will be especially fascinating because, as of last weekend, they are now level in joint-142nd place in the FIP world rankings – the first time Tia has not been the outright GB women’s no.1 in her professional career.
Tia said: “At this event, we put aside the fact that we are rivals and everyone’s competing for their own space. At the European Championships we have to be a team, otherwise we’re not going to succeed. Everyone has to feel the support from one another. If a pair loses, we all lose. We’re there to compete as one.
“Off the court we’re all really, really close friends but on the court we have to put our game face on and compete. In this scenario it’s nice that you’re on the same side of the court for a change.”
The focus of both men’s and women’s GB team in Cagliari will be achieving a finishing position that secures their qualification the for World Padel Championships in Doha, Qatar, from 28 October-2 November.
As for what that finishing position will have to be; well, it’s complicated. Essentially, 16 nations will qualify for Qatar: the top nine from the last World Championships, the host country and six from the regional qualification rounds (including the Europeans).
So, in the European Championships women’s draw, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, France and Germany have already qualified via finishing in the top nine at the Worlds in 2022. So it’s a battle between GB and the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary and Switzerland for the regional qualifying spots – and we don’t yet know how many there are!
“Qualifying for the Worlds is our biggest goal,” said Tia. “We don’t know what our group stage is going to look like yet, but if we get the likes of Spain and Portugal then our chances are much, much lower.”
The group draw is made on Sunday (21 July), the day before the tournament begins. There are four groups of four, with the top seeds – Spain, France, Italy and Sweden – already assigned to Group A, B, C and D respectively. GB are in draw two with Finland, then the remaining six teams are in draw three.
The nation everyone wants to avoid is Portugal. They didn’t play in the last European Championships so are automatically placed in draw three, where they’re a big fish in a pond of minnows. “The draw is going to be massive – so much is riding on it,” admitted Tia.
However, she added: “Over the eight years I’ve been competing, I feel like going into these Championships it’s the most competitive team that I’ve ever been in. So if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen now.
“I don’t think we’re far off these other countries. We’ve got a lot of players who are now competing on the FIP and professional circuits. They’re clocking up experience, which is going to be crucial at a big event like the Europeans. I don’t want to jinx it, but I like our chances.”
The GB team is significantly strengthened by the presence of Aimee Gibson, who has emerged rapidly in the last 18 months. Aimee, who was named the LTA Female Padel player of the Year earlier this month, is beyond excited about her first major tournament with Team GB.
“To represent your country is a big honour,” she said. “It’s going to be an amazing opportunity.
“We’ve had five or six training camps and we all work really hard individually in our own clubs. Getting together isn’t always easy with some of us working or training in another country, but when we’re together we work hard as a team. I think we’ve done the best we can to prepare. There’s a top seed in every group, so it’s going to be tough, but we have nothing to lose. Let’s go for it!”
Great Britain women’s squad for the 2024 European Padel Championships: Tia Norton, Aimee Gibson, Catherine Rose, Lisa Phillips, Abigail Tordoff, Sophia Haine, Victoria Nicholas, Olivia Smith
Coaches: Libby Fletcher and Alvaro Fernandez
The European Padel Championship take place from 22-27 July at the Tennis Club Cagliari. The Padel Paper will keep you updated with both GB teams’ progress.
