Desni McIntosh’s Great Britain debut at the FIP Seniors World Cup will be a poignant moment — evoking memories of a horrendous accident which left her on crutches for three years and on the verge of a leg amputation.
McIntosh will partner Victoria Davies in the women’s 50+ category in Buenos Aires from 14-19 September in her first official appearance for the Great Britain padel team.
But the prospect of facing the world’s best senior padel players would have seemed absurd when a skiing accident in Canada shattered her knee, just a few months after she’d qualifyied as a doctor.
This was a savage blow for a keen sportswoman who had already represented Scotland at squash and lacrosse at that stage (she played in two World Junior Squash Championships and turned down a pro career to study medicine).
Years of surgery surgery followed the skiing accident, during which doctors questioned whether she would ever walk again. She was unable to walk without crutches for almost three years and unable to return to work in the A&E department where she’d just begun her career.
In a desperate move, she visited the world’s leading knee surgeon in Indianapolis who said it was the worst knee injury he’d ever seen. “He didn’t know if he could save my leg,” says McIntosh. “It very traumatic. My thigh was thinner than my wrist at that point.
“When I woke from the operation, the first thing I did is check of my foot was still there. It was, but he said it was touch and go.”
Desni had to learn to walk again and retrained in psychiatry as working in a hospital wasn’t feasible due to all the necessary movement.
Time passed, she had three daughters, but the knee problems persisted. She kept dislocating it — “that was the worst pain of all” — and had a second ACL reconstruction in 2012. She assumed her sporting career was over, until discovering padel in 2017. Despite not being able to bend her leg, her racket skills were still there.
Through playing with increasing competitiveness at Edinburgh Sports Club, she caught the national selectors’ attention twice last year for the Four Nations in Leeds and the Anglo American Cup in London. Buenos Aires will be her first ‘official’ GB appearance, and it’s one she’s relishing.
“If padel hadn’t come along I don’t know what I’d be doing now,” she says. “I tried golf and lawn balls but they aren’t fast enough. Padel has been brilliant for my sport but also socially.”
Joining McIntosh in the GB women’s team in Argentina will be fellow Edinburgh Sports Club players Ashley Mears and Rosie Dennis, both in the 60+ category.
Mears — coincidentally another former Scotland international squash player with a history of knee issues — said: “I’m amazed and happy to have been selected, and find it hard to believe! Three GB team members being from Edinburgh Sports Club is a testament to the quality of women playing at the club and in the East of Scotland.”
GB women finished a creditable ninth out of 22 at the previous FIP Seniors World Championships in Alicante in 2024, as well as a strong eighth-placed finish at last year’s FIP Senior Euro Padel Cup in Valencia.
GB men’s captain hails “strongest team so far”
Drew Warren will captain the GB men’s team in Buenos Aires in what will be his fifth Seniors tournament wearing national colours.
“This is the strongest team we’ve had so far,” the 50+ category player tells us. “I’m happy with the team as we’ve only had one player who couldn’t make it [Richard Brooks], so we’ve got chances in all categories. We’ve got quite a few established pairs who practise and play together, which makes a big difference.”
Drew’s elder brother Chris (founder of Rocks Lane Padel Clubs and the Euro Padel League) will also be in Buenos Aires in the 60+ category. Both will have a hectic schedule over the coming weekend before the action begins on Monday (14 September).
He explains: “It’s a 17-hour flight, then we’ll have to quickly acclimatise and get some practice in before the opening ceremony and draw on the Sunday night.”
GB men will be looking to improve on their 19th place in Alicante, where their fate hinged on a tight 3-2 defeat to Finland in the group stage which put them into the draw for the 17th-24th positions.
“How we get on will this year be very dependent on the draw,” says Warren. “It really does decide your destiny. If the luck goes with us, I’d hope for a top-16 finish.”
GB squads for the 2026 FIP Senior World Cup
Women:
40+ Angela Wood and Sophie Cousins
45+ Sarah Lochrie, Susie Azoulay and Libby Fletcher
50+ Victoria Davies and Desni McIntosh
55+ Helen Crook and Teresa Catlin
60+ Sally Fisher, Ashley Mears and Rosemary Dennis
Men:
40+ Mike Tolman and James Southwood
45+ Javier Etayo Fernandez and Ben Gudzelak
50+ Andrew Warren, Craig Wijekoon De Silva and David Thomas
55+ Adrian Ezra, Keith Frith and Kingsley Harris
60+ Chris Warren, John Byrne and Michael Thorpe
(The age groups have been adjusted this year to include a 60+ category, with the 35+ removed. There is also no open pairs competition)
Format
The men’s competition will feature 32 teams (22 + 10 from the qualification phase) divided into eight groups of four. Groups are drawn using the seeded ‘snake system’ with GB’s men in line three. The women’s will be 26 teams also divided into eight groups (six groups with three teams and two groups with four).
The top team in each men’s group will play for the 1-8 positions, the second-placed teams for 9-16, third placed for 17-24 and bottom teams for positions 25-32. The women’s play-offs will be similar but only down to position 26.
The draw will take place on the night before the tournament begins (Sunday 13 September).
Competing nations
Women’s teams (in seeding order): Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, USA, Argentina, Great Britain, Brazil, Germany, Portugal, Denmark, Chile, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Ireland, Uruguay, Lithuania. Not seeded: Austria, Canada, Ecuador, Gibraltar, Paraguay, Switzerland.
Men’s teams (in seeding order): Argentina, Spain, France, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, Chile, Mexico, USA, Brazil, Belgium, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ecuador, Portugal, Uruguay, Great Britain, Egypt, Qatar, Czechia, Japan, Ireland.
Plus the best eight teams from the qualification phase (11-13 September): Austria, Canada, Croatia, Gibraltar, Hong Kong China, Israel, Lithuania, Paraguay, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Venezuela.
FIP Senior World Cup schedule and latest scores on the FIP website
