Dawn Foxhall and Jo Ward were the standout pairing in a successful campaign for Great Britain’s women at the FIP Seniors World Padel Championships in Alicante.
Team co-captains Dawn and Jo finished fourth in the women’s +45 pairs, with GB women finishing a highly creditable ninth out of 22 overall in the team event. GB’s men – captained by Nick Holloway and Ben Gudzelak – were left with plenty to reflect upon after finishing 19th out of 24.
Dawn and Jo’s performance in reaching the semi-finals was described by team-mate Nicky Horn as “world class.” They beat pairs from Argentina, Denmark, Sweden and Portugal en route to the last four. There, they took the first set against top-seeded Italians Roberta Zandarin and Sabina Da Ponte but the second slipped away quickly and they lost the decider on a tie-break, going down 3-6, 6-1, 7-6.
In the bronze medal play-off, they went down to Argentina’s Maria Cicceralli and Natalia Evaristti 6-2 6-1. It was the first time ever that a GB women’s pair had progressed so far at a FIP Seniors World Championship – and all the more impressive considering Dawn was playing down an age group.
GB women’s ninth-placed finish in the team event was considered “a job well done.” After they finished second in their group behind a very strong Italy but above Norway, they entered the draw for positions 8-14. There, they beat Denmark and Germany 3-2 before losing 5-0 to the incredibly strong Argentinians (who were only in the second-tier draw due to a quirk of the seedings system, which put them in the same group as Spain!).
Nicky Horn, who reached the last 16 in the 55+ pairings draw alongside Sally Fisher, said of the tournament: “We had a week of being totally absorbed in padel, seeing what the next level looks like and forging friendships.
“We had some very focused pairings who were much more established than last year at the Europeans. We’re much clearer on how we were playing together and we know each other very well. After we played our team match each morning it was all about the pairs and how we split up across the courts to ensure we supported each other.
“Credit to our coaches, Libby [Fletcher], Dawn and Jo for the organisation of the squad which began over 18 months ago. What the women’s team has is a strategy and vision for where they want to be and we achieved that this week.”
As for the men, no pairing made it past the third round in the individual event and there was some disappointment with a finishing position of 19th in the team event. However, in mitigation, they were drawn in a tight group with Mexico and Finland. The 5-0 loss to Mexico wasn’t unexpected, but the 3-2 defeat to Finland ultimately proved crucial.
That put them in the draw for positions 17-24 where they faced Czech Republic, whose team included a name football fans may remember – all-time Czech international top scorer Jan Koller, formerly of Borussia Dortmund. (There was stardust elsewhere too: two-time US Open winner Pat Rafter played for Australia and two-time Grand Slam doubles winner Jared Palmer played for USA)
The Czechs were seen off 3-2, then GB’s next tie against Uruguay went down to a deciding rubber, which Max Holloway and Elliot Selby lost narrowly. Elliot told us: “The atmosphere was incredible that evening with a few hundred people watching. We lost the first set 6-1 and were a little bit like deer in the headlights, but we battled back, went a break up in the third but lost it 6-4.”
GB next beat Egypt 3-2 to seal 19th place. Elliot reflected: “It’s pretty impressive to see the level everywhere else because we’re in our own bubble in the UK. Padel is still so young in the UK. A lot of us have been playing for a maximum of five years whereas a lot of these players have grown up playing the game. But overall it was an amazing experience.”
Elliot felt GB’s men’s team would benefit from better structure and organisation in future events.
He said: “I found out about the event and the GB team application process at the last minute by luck. It would have been great to have more time in order to prepare for the event better and maximise our potential. And we’ve all had to fund the trip ourselves.
“In future, I hope we grow from this experience and the LTA look to support the squad by providing coaches, keeping track of players in each age group and organising squad training sessions throughout the year. We’re all motivated to learn and build from this experience in order to keep up with how quickly other nations are progressing.”
Check all the results from the team events and individual events in Alicante
