Great Britain’s boys’ and girls’ teams both bowed out bravely in the qualification phase on their FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup debuts in Porto.
Following victories over Estonia, Finland and Poland over the weekend, the GB boys faced Denmark on Monday morning to decide who would finish top of Group D and take their place in the Final 8 stage (check out the final qualification group standings here).
They came within a whisker of achieving what would have been a breakthrough triumph.
First, Tyler Monfillo and Shay Hanif went down 6-2 6-4 to Denmark’s Karl-Emil Angermair and Marius Damgaard Bojesen in the U14 rubber.
In a lengthy, tense and dramatic second rubber, GB’s U16 pairing Olly Grantham and Harley Dixon lost agonisingly 7-5 7-6 (3) to Pelle Hansen and Lasse Leiholm.
In the dead rubber, GB’s U18 pairing Ben Phillips and Cochise Bennett were easy 6-1, 6-2 victors.
Although GB’s girls also finished second in their group, their fate was sealed after their first match on Saturday.
The girls were placed in the only group with three teams in it — so defeat to Belgium on Saturday ensured GB could not top the group so were effectively knocked out.
U14s Rosie Allen and Elizabeth Vellacott got the girls off to the perfect start with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Anna Wauters and Marie van Bruyssel
Chloe de la Mare and Lucy Bertram then lost 7-5 6-4 to Nanou Vereertbrugghen and Hanne van Bruyssel in the U16 encounter.
In the deciding U18 rubber, Rosie Quirk and Aimee Connolly couldn’t quite convert, going down 6-3, 6-4 to Axelle Moens and Llum Martorell Gruwez.
The girls’ 3-0 victory over Czech Republic on Sunday — for the loss of just four games across the three ties – was of scant consolation.
The boys’ group winners — Italy, Portugal, Netherlands and Denmark — now progress to the Final 8 stage where they will join automatic qualifiers Spain, France, Sweden and Belgium.
The girls’ group winners — Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands and Finland — join Spain, Italy, Portugal and France in the Final 8.
https://www.padelfip.com/events/fip-junior-euro-padel-cup-2026-2026/?tab=ResultsCheck out all the latest scores and results from the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup
We hope to have reaction from the GB camp in Porto soon…
