UK Padel County Championships

The UK Padel County Championships took place last weekend at Rocket Padel, Bristol, with 217 competitors across 60 teams from 29 counties.

East Glos was well represented with all members of the Gloucestershire women’s, men’s and mixed teams from the club. 

In the group matches, the women’s team lost 1-2 to eventual semi-finalists and 2023 winners, Sussex, in a tight tie-break shoot-out 9-11. They bounced back on Sunday morning with strong 2-0 wins over Middlesex and Somerset to stay in contention.

A nail-biting wait followed to see if Middlesex could pull off a win over Sussex to create a three-way tie, but it was not to be, so Sussex secured the top spot and advanced as group winners.

The mixed team fought hard but lost to Yorkshire, the eventual runners-up, and narrowly lost to Somerset and Berkshire, both in tie-break shoot-outs.

Gloucestershire's young and enthusiastic men's team gave their all in their group matches but were outplayed by more experienced Warwickshire and Dorset teams. Undeterred, they pushed Oxfordshire to a tie-break shoot-out in their final match, narrowly losing 8-10.

Despite the losses, all the teams showed strong spirit and determination throughout the weekend.

Ladies' team: Jess Johnson, Laura, Eales, Heather Sheridan (C), Marie Bell. + Petra Ratajova (not pictured)
Mixed team: Ollie Boulton, Charlie Ferrett, Alex Lane, Petra Ratajova, Jess Johnson, Heather Sheridan (C)
Men's team: Eddy Mason, Ollie Boulton (C), Charlie Ferrett, Max Brent

Report by Heather Sheridan