First international padel event for club junior Ethan
On the weekend of 14th and 15th March, club junior Ethan Holt and his partner Andrew Dunn, both aged 13, played in their first international event, the Golden Point FIP Promises Tournament in Middlekerke, Belgium.
Ethan (L) with Andrew
Ethan, who has been playing padel for only three-and-a-half years, first met Andrew at his home club, Smash Padel, Bicester, where Ethan went on some performance camps.
Playing in the 14u age group, Ethan and Andrew were the only pair from the UK. Having received a bye to the quarter-final, their opponents were a mixed-country pair from Italy and Germany.
“The standard was unbelievable”, says Ethan’s dad, Vince, “players so good, they couldn’t find anyone from their own country at the right level to play with, so they had to cross borders in their search.”
The first set was very close with a tie-break, which the UK pair just edged to take it 7-6. In the second set, some errors crept in from the opponents, and Ethan and Andrew took the second set 6-2 to win in straight sets.
Reaching the semi-final on Sunday, the UK boys faced a Belgian duo. Again, the standard was outstanding, with the opponents taking the first set 6-4. At 5-1 down and with incredible strength of character and resilience, Ethan and Andrew got back to 5-5, followed by a 6-6 tie-break, which they won 7-6.
The third set ended in a 10-point tie-break, with the opponents gaining a strong lead. However, Ethan and Andrew came back to 9-8. After two excellent serves and one unforced error from Ethan taking a lob into the glass, very quickly, dreams were quashed, and the opponents sneaked it, 11-9.
Ethan says, “I tremendously enjoyed the experience. I was technically challenged way more than I anticipated!”.