British stars live up to billing
BRITISH Padel stars Jon Leach and Javier Serrats lived up to their reputation as they headlined the entry at the inaugural British Padel Tour event to be hosted by the Guernsey Padel Club at Longcamps.
Players from Guernsey were joined by others from Jersey, the UK, France and Spain to battle it out for British ranking points as the tournament was given a silver level status on the British tour circuit.
Seventeen pairs entered the Open, for which the top seeds were the Nos 1 and 3 ranked players in Britain, Leach and Serrats, who are undefeated together on the circuit this year.
The Open event final rounded off the tournament and saw top seeds Leach and Serrats meeting local pair Rob West and Jon Young.
Leach and Serrats continued to demonstrate their class and court awareness, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
The veterans event featured 13 pairs and after round robin group stages the final was between the Nos 1 and 2 ranked verterans in Britain, Barry Coffey and David Borton, and brothers Tony and Richard Woodland.
It was Coffey and Borton who triumphed 8-2 in a pro-set final.
The tournament had started with a social event on Saturday morning in which 16 pairs enjoyed a fun round robin event with a more light-hearted feel.
The winners were Nikhail Mohindra and Gary Zucconi from the UK, beating local pair Andy Platt and Phil Le Roy 6-1 in the final.
The Padel Club’s inaugural tournament was a huge success, said Guernsey Tennis centre’s Rob West.
‘Many local players got their first taste of Padel competition and this will serve as a great platform for the sport to continue its growth in the island,’ he said.
