Yorkshire, East Scotland and Sussex were the victors in last weekend’s inaugural UK PADEl County Championships at Rocket Padel in Bristol.
The biggest ever tournament to be hosted in the UK brought together 170 passionate players and counties in a celebration of skill, camaraderie and the thriving padel community.
The tournament was streamed on UK PADEL’s YouTube channel and the event was featured on BBC Radio 2 and BBC local radio and local news stations in Sussex and the Channel Islands.
Yorkshire were winners of the ladies’ title, East Scotland took the men’s and Sussex won the mixed. Essex, who had been hotly tipped for all three events, lost in all semi-finals.
Tournament Director Mark Ayers said: “Padel players tend to be relaxed and friendly, there was a remarkable spirit about things. This social dimension was something I really hoped would flourish and it was particularly pleasing.
“It was special and the entry exceeded my expectations. we had more than 160 players competing and that is just outstanding for the first tournament.”
The festivities extended beyond the courts, with a lively players’ party on Saturday night hosted by Shandy Shack and Paella CaLuciano. The generous portions and refreshing shandies added a perfect touch of fun to the evening, creating lasting memories off the court.
“One of the great things from this first ever county padel championship weekend was that we had a high proportion of players from the LTA top-20 UK rankings, for example like Nikhil Mohindra, who played for Essex and Sam MacNeil who captained East of Scotland. They are wonderful players,” said Mark.
“In the women we had Lisa Phillips playing for Sussex, Sarah Lochrie representing Essex and Amy Cairns playing for Surrey.”
“To have top club players playing against these guys just added an extra dimension to it all and I actually had one lady from Devon, where padel is maybe just recently taking hold, coming up to me and saying it was unbelievable to be on a court with these guys.”
Planning is already underway to run a UK PADEL Seniors County Championship (over-50s) on 16-17 March 2024, also at Rocket Padel.
