FIP Euro Cup 2025: GB men's & women's teams qualify for the Final 8
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GB's men's and women's teams will test themselves against the continent's superpowers this autumn after earning places in the Final 8 of the FIP Euro Padel Cup in Madrid over the weekend.
GB women's co-captain Libby Fletcher said Sunday's nerve-racking 2-1 victory over Sweden in their decisive final group game was "testament to all the hard work and commitment" of her players over the last year and reflected the "healthy culture" that's developed within the team.
For the men, clean-sweep victories over Switzerland, Greece and Monaco were reflective of not just a favourable draw, but the growing strength-in-depth in the British men's squad that enabled them to exert such dominance all weekend.
It was Catherine Rose and Lisa Phillips' brilliant 6-2, 7-6 victory over Swedish No.2 pair Hanna Borjeson and Lisa Andersson that sealed top spot in the group and a passage to the climatic final phase of the competition later this year. They built on an earlier 6-0, 6-2 victory for top pair Aimee Gibson and Tia Norton, who dropped just six games all weekend.
The girls have put in the work, the commitment, the travelling to all the tournaments to gain international experience and rise in the rankings, as well as spending time in overseas academies to make themselves better. They're always pushing.
"The girls have worked so hard to get to where they are," said Fletcher. "This is a true testament to the amazing progress they've made over the last year or so.
"At last year's Euros in Sardinia, we had three really close matches with the Swedes and we lost 2-1 to the Netherlands and it felt like we'd arrived on the international scene, so everyone was keeping an eye on us. No-one wanted us in their box this year.
"The girls have put in the work, the commitment, the travelling to all the tournaments to gain international experience and rise in the rankings, as well as spending time in overseas academies to make themselves better. They're always pushing.
"We've created a really healthy culture for the women's team and they are all bouncing off each other and wanting to be better all the time. The team has really gelled this time and we've had good morale in the camp."
Attention will now turn to preparing for the Final 8 in the autumn, with a precise date and venue yet to be announced. There, they will be joined by fellow Phase 2 qualifiers the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, as well as big guns Spain, Italy, Portugal and France.
As they prepare to dine at Europe's top table, Fletcher is hugely encouraged by the growing strength of the players she has at her disposal.
Making her debut in Madrid was 15-year-old Rosie Quirk, who teamed up with veteran Abi Tordoff to win in three sets against Austria on the first day. Laura Jackson also got her first international experience under her belt, playing in two ties.
"Rosie is so level-headed it's unbelievable," said Fletcher. "Nothing really fazes her. Laura Jackson played amazingly this morning against what was in effect Sweden's no.1 pair. Both are very early on in their padel journeys and I'm really excited to see how they develop and how we can help them prepare for the Final 8.
"Tonight's we'll relax, go for some dinner and let it all sink in, but I could not be prouder of each and every one of the team."
GB's men's route to the Final 8 was a little more straight-forward, with only one set dropped all weekend. "We wanted to make a statement with three clean sweeps and we did that," said captain Sandy Farqhuarson.
"I've taken part in lots of Europeans and World Championships over the years and we've never had such a convincing ride through as this. For my first event as GB coach, I'm pretty happy. We were probably the team you would expect to win in all three matches, but that doesn't necessarily make it easy."
GB go through to the Final 8 with fellow group winners the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, with padel's traditional big guns Spain, Italy, Portugal and France also lying in wait.
"If we compare the other seven nations with ourselves we probably have the fewest amounts of courts, which translates as us needing to put in more work to compete at that level," reflected Farqhuarson.
"We've got to go away as a team and ask how can we get our top eight to 10 players ready over the next three months for the next phase."
Debutants Alex Loughlan, Tom Farquharson and Jamie Lobo all got valuable game time in Madrid. Loughlan teamed up with regular partner Louie Harris and they were utterly dominant in all three matches. Meanwhile, British No.1 Christian Medina Murphy and Sam Jones led by example, winning all three of their matches.
"Alex and Louie have had some good results together at FIPs and the fast conditions really suited them," said coach Farquharson. "They are so dangerous on a fast court like this because they're both able to finish the point from pretty much any lob. You could see the desperation in their opponents when they come up against them on this type of surface.
"For Jamie it's not easy in your first event. He's young and I'm expecting great things from him in the future. He played against Monaco's strongest pair with Tom and they played a very solid match to finish it off. Now it's about building on this weekend and getting ready for the next stage."
