Francis Langan has admitted he will never forget the moment he received the call-up to the GB team for the World Championships.
The 29-year-old had given up all hope of being selected for Dubai after Head Coach John Leach had revealed that he had just come up short on his six-month bid to return to the international fray some seven years after he had called time on his padel career.
But with the shock forearm injury sustained by Ryan Wyatt, which was revealed by The Padel Paper in September, casting a huge doubt over his ability to beat the crock and make it to the XVI World Championships, October 8th proved to be the day that one man’s bad luck turned out to be another’s good fortune.
A former top 150 ranked World Padel Tour player, Langan had mounted a strong case for a late call up after winning the HOP PRO Tour NTC tournament with GB internationalist Nikhil Mohindra only to come up just short.
But then one day his mobile sprang into life and the rest was history: “I got the news on October 8th in the afternoon and John (Leach, GB head coach) called me to say I’d been selected for the world champs and it is a moment I will never forget!” smiled Langan.
He continued: “I was at a good friends surprise engagement party in Sotogrande, I was with a load of family and friends, and it was just perfect to celebrate the moment with them and everyone was delighted.
“I have a lot of experience and I used to be 150 on the World Padel Tour and I am a former England No.1, so behind Richard Brooks I am probably the most experienced player on the team when it comes to it, but I did have a six- or seven-year absence from the sport as I had other business interests to explore.
“So, I started tennis when I was eight and I stopped padel and tennis at 22 and when you do something for such a long period of your life every single day you kind of burn out.
“So I just came back into the sport six months ago and John (Leach) had a conversation with me and said I had been in the running for the team which had been amazing in such a short period of time.
“But I didn’t make the cut and I had to take it on the chin and then obviously Ryan got injured and I got the call up. So getting picked to play for GB at a world championships is tremendous and I am really happy about it.”
When it comes to the inspiration behind his come back Langan admits that longevity at the elite end of international sport and in particular the return to the fray of Team GB stalwart Richard Brooks at 41 was a might strong inspiration to never say never again.
He fired: “Obviously Richard is the most experienced guy on the team but Sandy (Farquharson) and Ryan (Wyatt), Chris (Salisbury) are all older than me and I feel at 29 that is still young in sport.
“If you look at Fernando Belasteguin in padel, one of the greatest ever padel players, and at 44 he is still going and of course you have Richard Brooks coming back at 41 and leading GB to Dubai.
“So I feel like if I stay very fit, and I train every day there is no reason why I can’t, touch wood, continue playing until I am 40 years-old.
“Right now I would say I am probably just 75% of the level I’d hope to be at and that is satisfying being only six months into my comeback but now I want to kick on get to the level I was at if not go better.
“I feel like I have way more experience now and in life as much as anything and that is a big plus and I also intend to spend more time in Spain playing more tournaments out there at the higher level and playing the FIP Tour mainly but also some WPT where possible.
“The LTA tournaments are great but the level on the FIPS is higher and that is the way to kick on for me. I am planning to play a few tournaments with Nikhil (Mohindra) both in Spain and in the LTA Tournaments, so I will play some with him and some with the other boys in the GB team.
“I also want to spend more time with my old coach Gordo (Gonzalo) Diaz and really benefit from his huge knowledge and expertise and I think than can be another important part of guiding me down the right road and taking my game to a level above where it was.”
Fast forwarding to the action which will begin at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium on October 31, Langan has no doubt what the minimum target for Team GB should be: “At the end of the day I like to set my goals high and take on challenges but you also have to be realistic. Are we going to beat Spain? Well that is unlikely but you must stay positive.
“So if we can finish high enough to qualify for the next World Championships without qualifying that would be a very positive showing.
“But anyway I’d just like to thank John for giving me the chance to come back into the team. Probably they didn’t pick me from the start as they needed to see me work hard but I feel I did that.
“I’d also like to thank my sponsors adidas for all their support and patronage and of course to wish Ryan all the best for his recovery. It will have been a tough one for him living in Dubai not to play in the World Champs when they are held there but I wish him all the best and he will come back stronger.”
