The only way is Essex for County Champs
Essex dominated the weekend’s UK Padel County Championships, sweeping the board to take the men’s, women’s and mixed titles against stiff competition.
In the biggest championship yet, more than 200 competitors and over 60 teams representing 29 counties gathered in Bristol to contest the men’s, women’s and mixed titles. For the first time the event was held at two padel venues, with men’s rounds played at Surge Padel as well as Rocket Padel together with the women’s and mixed.
Middlesex, Berkshire and Staffordshire made their tournament debuts and the event boasted four of GB’s top 10 men and 13 of the top 25. In the women’s, four of the top 10 competed and 11 out of the top 25.
Quality
There was a gear shift in the level of padel played across the board from that witnessed at the inaugural county championships last November. An early indication of this was a group stage match where the Wiltshire mixed team, a county with just three courts, took the Essex team (including current LTA No 1 Sarah Lochrie) into a champions shoot-out and narrowly lost.
The mixed final, between Essex and Hertfordshire, was viewed by hundreds of spectators at the venue and via live-streamed action on the UK Padel YouTube channel. Essex came out champions, defeating a Herts team who played wonderfully well all day, winning all three of their group matches against tough opposition.
In the women’s competition the irrepressible Yorkshire team once again dominated throughout the day, proving too strong for any team that stood in their way, and with a good win over Surrey in the group stages. They faced Essex in the final in a fiercely competitive match, with the pairing of Sarah Lochrie and Jo Ward playing some extraordinary shots along the way to secure their match in the tie break – and the title for Essex.
The men’s final concluded the weekend. A more dramatic match you could not have wished for. After seeing Surrey take the first rubber to finish, the first Essex pairing dug deep and came back from behind to win their string by the narrowest of margins. The match went into a champions shoot-out with the Essex pairing of Jake Bewley and Ethan Bardo suddenly finding an extra gear to overcome the Surrey pair of Chris Salisbury and Ed Tandy. Watch how that played out 10-4 in the championship shoot out here.
“There will, no doubt, be some aching limbs attached to the competitors but also a huge collective glow of achievement and enjoyment, with every participant contributing to a phenomenal weekend of competitive padel,” said UK Padel’s Nick Baker. “Well done once again to Essex for their marvellous clean sweep.” 🎾
