The best of Britain was on show in the world of padel at a prestigious event held in North Ayrshire last weekend.
Racquet sports players from Ayrshire showed off the skills against the best players from England, Scotland and the Channel Islands, as well as international competitors from further afield, as part of the British Padel Tour, which was hosted in Stevenston.
The competition, at West of Scotland Padel Club, was the third of seven Grade 1 events to take place across the UK.
Grade 1 events see the very best British players and international competitors competing in standout events, across full weekends, for prize money. Acceptance onto British Tour events is based on players' LTA Padel Ranking.
One of the stand-out results for the West of Scotland players saw Kilwinning's Rachel Scallan and Saltcoats' Meghan Montgomerie defeat second seeds Maria Christina Balatsouka and Mercedes Perez.
Rachel and Meghan are seen in action below in their last round robin match.
Players from the west coast who took part included Stephen Alexander, John Byrne, Joseph Gill, Mathias Kupiec, Mark Picken, Blair Pettigrew, and Mercedes Perez.
There was British success across the men’s and women’s competitions with Francis Langan and Jorge Martinez Del Campo lifting the title in the men’s tournament, and Aimee Gibson and Catherine Rose succeeding in the women’s.
The men’s final saw the top seeds Langan and Martinez Del Campo defeat the third seeds, Cameron Dollimore and George Weller, 26 76 71. See action below:
Post match, Langan reflected on his win saying: “Amazing weekend, always great coming up to Scotland. West of Scotland Padel put on a great show and made us feel very welcome.”
On the women’s side, Gibson and Rose played some impressive padel and did not drop a set during the round robin tournament.
Rose reflected on the win saying she “felt really warmly welcome and it’s been a fun weekend”.
West Kilbride's Maureen Baird, West of Scotland Padel competition organiser, said: “Our Grade 1 Scottish Padel Championships was an absolute hive of activity.
Players from all over the UK came and showed the highest level of skill for this game and were total sports ambassadors. It was a pleasure to host them and this LTA event. Thanks to all who helped make this such a success."
A full Scottish welcome was given to the prizewinners as you can see below:
Padel is one of the fastest growing sports and is an innovative form of tennis that’s fun, easy to learn and extremely sociable.
The sport is played on an enclosed court that is about a third of the size of a tennis court. All ages and abilities can play together.
The weekend event drew a big crowd and was attended by North Ayrshire's Provost Anthea Dickson, MSP Kenneth Gibson, MP Patricia Gibson and Councillor Davina McTiernan.
For more details about joining the West of Scotland Padel club, go to clubspark.lta.org.uk/westofscotlandpadel
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