AFTER Great Britain men’s 14th place finish in last week’s World Championships, The Padel Paper has consulted the ‘three wise men’ to get their views on how it all went and conduct a suitable post-mortem.
GB failed to escape from Group A, the so-called Group of Death, which included defending champions Spain, dark horses Portugal and 2021 quarter-finalists Uruguay, none of whom John Leach’s men managed to beat.
Consigned to also-ran status and the play-off placing battle in the 13-17 team slot, the Brits bounced back with victories over UAE and Egypt before losing to the Netherlands to succumb to a 14th place finish – three places adrift of their 11th slot in 2021.
Now in consultation with our panel of British padel heavyweights, we deliver the verdict on Dubai 2022.
Nigel Garton was part of the Great Britain team who claimed a top-four finish at the inaugural world padel championships in 1992 and is the respected padel head coach at Tennis World Middlesbrough while also coaching the GB women’s veterans squads.
Peter Vann is often referred to as the ‘Godfather of British padel’ after widely being credited with introducing the sport to these isles.
In 2013 ‘Vann the Man’ became president of British Padel and played a key part in running the game’s fledgling governing body alongside Tim Edwards and Tom Murray (now Head of Padel at the LTA) before becoming integral in the decision to invite the LTA to become the game’s new parent organisation.
Ian Colligon is the owner and creator of iPadel, who play a key part in providing a competitive club padel structure through his iPadel Championships.
Right now 70 teams spanning the length and breadth of England and Wales are taking part in the iPadel Leagues with We Are Padel Derby hosting the showpiece finals weekend in March 2023.
Was it unrealistic to expect GB to win one match in the Group of Death to qualify automatically for the next World Championships?
Nigel Garton: “I think Spain and Portugal were a step too far but against Uruguay in the second rubber we were up in the first set 5-2 and 5-3 in the second only to lose the match and then won the third rubber when it was dead, so yes we could and should probably have won that tie.”
Peter Vann: “Certainly it would have been unrealistic to expect to beat either Portugal or Spain but that was not the case against Uruguay.
“When you consider our no.1 pairing of Murphy and Jones won emphatically against them that underlines that point.”
Ian Colligon: “No, it wasn’t unrealistic at all and they could and probably should have beaten Uruguay.”
In the two key group matches with Portugal and Uruguay captain John Leach opted to play his no.1 pairing of Christian Murphy and Sam Jones last – did he get that right and would you have done it differently?
NG: “If they’d won at second pair we would have said: ‘Great decision,’ so I don’t think you can aim any criticism at John for that. Also John went with Murphy and Jones in the last match of the qualifiers against Germany and they delivered for him when it mattered most to get us to Dubai, so I don’t think you can criticise John for that.”
PV: “I think John mentioned selection and order is a chess match and of course now we have the benefit of hindsight but you have got to take the best view of how you can get the win, so as captain that was his best view and he went for it and that is all he could do.
“Also Richard Brooks and Louie Harris led 5-2 in the first set and 5-3 in the second in the second match and if they had converted the rest would have been history and John’s selection would have been completely vindicated.”
IC: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. It’s almost like the singles in the Ryder Cup and a captain has to decide does he put his best players out first or last. It is always a gamble and John may look back and say he should have put out Murphy and Jones first or second to get a point but then he is also gambling on the fact the third game would be the crucial one.
“So at the time it was a very tough call for him although for me I would have stacked it on the front to get the points on the board.”
Given Richard Brooks is a venerable 41 was it the right call to pick him given we were unlikely to qualify and a younger player was denied the chance to play and gain some invaluable top-level experience?
NG: “I think Richard’s standard of play is still right there, he wasn’t going as eighth man, he was a starter and he is back playing on the tour, so age should be no concern there. If he had been the eighth man then you could have taken a younger lad but that was not the case.
“The only thing I’d add is that they could have involved a couple of the younger kids last time at the qualifiers in Derby just to give them a taste of it and it would have been great for them to be around it all.”
PV: “Emphatically it was the right decision. Brooks is still a fine padel player and the breadth of his experience as a tactician and just on a playing level would have been important to Louie Harris, whom he partnered on court and the team in general.
“Without that the team would have been lacking in more than one area.”
IC: “One of the reasons I am sure Richard was picked was for his experience. When you are at a team event like that having that experience to encourage the likes of Nikhil (Mohindra) and Louie was vital. So for me it was definitely the right call.
“Plus is there anyone else at that level ready to step up?”
What can we do to broaden the depth of playing talent at the top domestic level to make us more competitive internationally?
NG: “It’s a question of time and getting the squad together more often. That is not easy as you have Sam Jones and Ryan Wyatt living in Dubai, Christian (Medina-Murphy), Nikhil and Louie in Spain, so to get them together is very difficult.
“Also they are playing the FIP Tour and WPT and so the gap is quite big with people like Chris Salisbury having a full-time job, so it’s going to take time.
“We have three 18-year-olds who need to play more with these guys and also get a pipeline for younger players to come through but there is going to be a new Performance Director and that will be a key appointment in all of this.”
PV: “My answer to this is not necessarily a list of things to do but since 2009 GB have entered a team in every World Championship so they have provided a breadth of opportunity for high-level male and female players to compete at the very top level.
“With 50 nations now competing that suggests there is depth and people like Louie Harris and the way he has progressed is an example of young talent coming through the pipeline.”
IC: “It needs more sponsorship, more top-level tournaments and more international events in the UK and it will come as more quality facilities are built as they are vital to this and then hopefully we can get WPT and Premier Padel events in the UK.
“At top level they have to create an incentive for players to play these tournaments in the UK. There was a Grade One at West of Scotland padel and how many of the London players travelled for that?
“Also, without LTA-bashing, when it was British Padel they had their own social media and they would advertise everything but the LTA do not have a specific padel social media platform and unless you know where to look you will struggle to find them.
“So promotion and prize money is vital in this respect.”
What has got to be the No.1 priority for GB going forward from the XVI World Championships?
NG: “The Performance Director is one job that needs to happen and then perhaps we need a Tournament Officer to drive the clubs to have programmes to bring people on and not just look at pounds, shillings, and pence.
“So we need programmes at clubs to develop juniors and provide them with a pathway.”
PV: “In two years’ time at the next World Championships we will still have the same nucleus of this team and they need to pre-qualify for the championship in four years’ time from now. Which will guarantee emerging talent the opportunity to compete at the top level.”
IC: “Getting more people to play. How many people in the UK outside the padel bubble would have known we had a team at these World Championships?
“Although it was streamed on YouTube on FIP and the LTA you wouldn’t have been able to watch it if you didn’t know there was one going on. Then you look at Game4Padel at Westfield over the weekend and because the Murrays were involved the media swamped it.”
Plenty of food for thought from Nigel, Paul and Ian, all of whom have been involved in padel for many years. Thank you chaps!
