Great Britain’s men missed out on the semi-finals at the FIP Euro Padel Cup Final 8 in Cadiz but went home with spirits high after beating Sweden in their last group match.
After an inevitable 3-0 defeat to reigning champions Spain in Tuesday’s Group A opener, GB then gave third seeds Portugal a massive scare on Wednesday before sealing third place in the group by virtue of a gutsy 2-1 victory over Sweden on Thursday evening.
Speaking to The Padel Paper from Linea de la Concepción in the shadow of the Rock of Gibraltar, GB men’s captain Sandy Farquharson said the campaign had exceeded his expactations and called victory over the Swedes a “really big” step in Britain’s padel roadmap.
Wednesday’s clash with Portugal ultimately ended in a 3-0 defeat, but that scoreline disguises two hugely heartening performances from British pairs.
Scot Alex Loughlan and Welshman Louie Harris took the first set on a tiebreak against Portugal’s renowned Deus brothers, the world no.37s, to raise hopes of a famous upset.
In the second set, they even had a match point before losing it 7-5. More drama followed in the decider as GB went 4-1 up, but Portugal clawed it back to force another tiebreak, in which their experience ultimately told.
Although Nikhil Mohindra and Alfonso Patacho then lost 6-1 6-4 to Miguel Oliveira and Pedro Graca, GB’s no.1 pair Christian Murphy and Sam Jones pushed Pedro Perry and Afonso Fazendeiro to two tiebreaks, but lost them both. The ecstatic reaction of Portugal’s players was revealing; they knew they’d been in a battle.
Any frustration at not converting those chances was alleviated on Thursday afternoon as Sweden, a far more established padel nation than Britain, were toppled in the last group match.
With towering serve-volleyers Alex and Louie first up against a similarly tall Swedish pair, it was no surprise to see two tiebreaks. The Brits won the first to love and took the second as well to post their first W of the week.
Captains Farquharson and John Leach mixed up the pairings, putting Christian Medina Murphy with Alfonso Patacho. There were chest-bumping celebrations aplenty between them as they also won via two tiebreaks.
Tom Farquharson was given his first runout of the week in the dead rubber alongside Sam Jones and although they were beaten 6-4 6-3, GB could celebrate a heartening victory.
“We can actually do it, not just get close…”
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a result like that against this calibre of country,” Sandy Farquharson reflected after the Sweden game.
“For me, there’s a big distinction between the Portugal game and today. Over the years, so many times we end up close with these teams, but don’t win, so today is really big. To win both tiebreaks in the first and third match shows we can actually do it, not just get close to these countries.
“It definitely exceeded my expectations. We’ve gone relatively close with Portugal in Sardinia last year and we were even closer this time. Sweden have a very strong team and a much more established foundation of padel in their country. I was thinking we could be close but I wasn’t sure we’d go and win. I’m pleasantly surprised.”
Although Farquharson inferred plenty of positives from the defeat to Portugal, he said the scoreboard was ultimately all that mattered.
“Yes it was a great match and the guys played well, but a loss is a loss. That’s why beating Sweden means so much.
“The Portugal match was a boost for their confidence that they could compete at that level, and we take some useful info from it, but I’m more impressed with the Sweden win than with getting close to Portugal.
“We’re still at the infancy stage in the UK with padel. The set-up we have for pro players to come though isn’t where we’d like it to be. Netherlands and Sweden have probably got 49 to 50 players to choose from, whereas we have about eight. However, it’s a base to build from.
“The fact that we’re able to compete at this level with a pretty young team gives me hope that in years to come we will have some great role models. It’s hopefully laying the foundations for the future.”
Read more: GB’s women finish with a flourish at FIP Euro Padel Cup Final 8
Check out all the results and follow the weekend’s action at the FIP Euro Padel Cup Final 8
