The lure of some December sunshine and competitive pickleball drove 44 UK players to Mallorca last weekend for the Mediterranean Open.
The Mediterranean Open is the first in a series of four tournaments run by Luis de Cristebal and his team at desirable Spanish locations. Last weekend’s tournament was held at the Rafa Nadal Academy at Manacour, Mallorca with €5,000 prize money for the Elite Pro level. The venue did not disappoint.
Friday’s weather disappointed, pushing play indoors for most of the day and forcing some brackets to finish on Saturday, but suntan lotion was required over the weekend.
English players cleaned up in the Pro events with Thaddea Lock winning gold in the singles against Spain’s Sabrina Mendez 15:6. Sharienne Ricardo from the USA won bronze after losing 15:9 to Thaddea in a thrilling semi-final.
James Chaudry, who took gold in the English Nationals singles in October, won gold in a thrilling final against US pro player Brandon Lane 15:12. Brandon was dominant until the change of ends.
Louis Laville secured bronze, beating Marcello Jardim, a professional padel player originally from Brazil and now resident in Spain, 15:6. There were 28 entries into the men’s event, so this was a brilliant result for James and Louis. Each of the players won €375 for gold, €187.50 for silver and €62.50 for bronze.
In the women’s doubles, Thaddea Lock and Pei Chuan Kao beat Spain’s Sabrina Medez and Maria Fernandez 15:6 to take home the golds. England’s Mollie Kubrick-Finney and Hermione Baxter-Chinery took bronze, beating the other losing semi-finalists Pialina Ander and Isabella Ericksson from Sweden. Ten teams competed in the draw.
Eighteen pairs competed in the men’s doubles, in which Louis Laville and Peter Hitchman beat James Chaudry and Carlos Perez in an epic battle with a narrow 15:13 win. Bronze went to Spain’s Dani Vega & Álvaro Prieto who beat the other losing semi-finalists.
By Sunday’s mixed doubles event, only Thaddea Lock was still eligible for a Triple Crown. Twenty-five teams competed in the round-robin before the top two from the six groups went through to knockout.
After two great semi-finals, the scene was set for another showdown between Thaddea Lock and James Chaudry versus Pei Chuan Kao and Louis Laville. At this year’s English Nationals it was a thrilling three-game affair. In Mallorca, it was first to 15. The result was the same with gold for Pei and Louis after their 15:6 win.
For both the men’s doubles and the mixed doubles, Louis was roared on by his 15-strong fan club from Roehampton Club where he coaches pickleball.
So, for anyone counting, Thaddea, Pei, James and Louis all came away with two gold medals each – that is an emphatic eight out of eight at the pro level for these players who have been dominating this year in Europe.
For a full list of Pickleball England who medalled (49 in total) in the Mediterranean Open click here.
Report by Karen Mitchell
Outstanding result for the Brits abroad. Well done to all our amazing Pros for doing us proud on the continent. It really confirms our dominance in Europe in Pickleball. Congratulations to everyone, players, supporters, everyone who took part from the UK, amazing. We’re all very jealous here in the cold and rain. ツ’