Great Britain has applied to enter teams in all six draws for this summer’s FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup in Portugal.
Taking place from 27 June – 4 July, the event will see the best of Europe’s NextGen take centre stage in Porto.
It will be the third edition of the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup and will feature U14, U16 and U18 boys’ and girls’ categories.
The Padel Paper understands that the LTA has applied to enter GB teams in all six categories and is currently awaiting confirmation of their acceptance from FIP. Once that is received, the selection process of the teams and captains will begin.
Once entry is confirmed, GB will enter the event in the qualification stage, taking place from 27-29 June. That will decide places in the main draw for the Final 8, which runs from 30 June-4 July.
Eight teams (four boys, four girls) have already guaranteed places in the Final 8 based on results achieved at the most recent European Championship held in Hungary. They are:
Boys’ competition: Spain, France, Sweden, Belgium
Girls’ competition: Spain, Italy, Portugal, France
The 2026 FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup will be staged at the Padel Athletic Club in Porto. It follows the first two European Junior Championships held in Valencia (2022) and Budapest (2024).
As reported by The Padel Paper at the time, there was frustration at the LTA’s decision not to send teams to Budapest two years ago due to the governing body’s assertion that the player base was “not wide enough”.
However, the increase in junior programmes at clubs around the country, the LTA’s national junior camps and many players entering (and winning!) FIP Promises events encouraged the LTA to enter teams at last year’s FIP Junior World Cup in Reus and now they have pitted teams into Europe’s elite championships for the first time.
In Budapest, winners of both boys’ and girls’ titles was, unsurprisingly, Spain, with France and Sweden also on the boys’ podium and Italy and Portugal in the girls’.
The FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup is a key stage in the qualification pathway towards the FIP Junior World Cup 2027.
FIP president Luigi Carraro commented: “We are very pleased to bring, for the first time in Portugal, a major continental junior competition such as the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup.
“Portugal is a country that is making an extraordinary contribution to the growth of padel, both in terms of players and organisational development. I would therefore like to thank the Portuguese Federation and its President Ricardo da Silva Oliveira for their commitment and cooperation, which make an event of such a high level dedicated to the next generation possible.
“To the young athletes I would like to say: enjoy yourselves, make friends on and off the court, be sporting and wear your national shirt with pride”.
Oliveira added: “Hosting the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup is the fulfillment of a long-held dream and completes our cycle of organizing every major international padel event.
“We are deeply honoured by the trust Luigi Carraro and the FIP have placed in us, and we are fully committed to leveraging our extensive experience to deliver an unforgettable, world-class event for the next generation of players.”
