Two of Guernsey’s best padel players, Patrick Ogier and Rob West, have been selected to represent Great Britain at the upcoming Veteran’s Padel World Championships qualifying tournament.
If successful, the British team will qualify for the Veteran’s Padel World Championships to be held in Las Vegas later this year.
Patrick and Rob will form the over 35’s pair in the British Team for the tie which will be held in Dublin over the weekend of 25th – 27th February.
Each team comprises five pairs in different age categories (over 35s, 40s, 45s, 50s and 55s). The event will see seven European countries competing for four qualifying places at the Vets World Championships. The other countries vying for spots in the Finals are Sweden, Denmark, France, Holland, Germany and Ireland. The draw for groups will take place on February 22nd.
Both Patrick and Rob are familiar faces on the island’s tennis scene, with both representing Guernsey many times at the Island Games and Patrick also competing at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Since padel first arrived in Guernsey in 2017, both have enjoyed the challenge and transition to a new sport and have been consistently placed at the top of the island’s rankings, won trophies at the Island Championships and helped to lead the Guernsey team to a convincing victory against Jersey in last year’s interinsular. A third Guernsey player, Jon Young, was also put forward for selection but was unable to make the tie due to prior commitments.
This selection marks the first time that either of them has represented Great Britain. Rob said “It is a huge honour to be selected for Team GB, and we can’t wait to travel to Dublin to try our best to help the team qualify for the the World Championships.
“Padel is a sport that we have all come to really enjoy playing and it will be really interesting to be able to test our level against some of the best players from Europe.” Patrick added, “Pulling on a Guernsey jersey has always been something really special for me, and the chance to take that one further and compete for Great Britain is really exciting.
“Playing padel overseas, especially after the travel restrictions of the pandemic, will be really challenging as we will have to deal with different courts, conditions and games styles to those we have become used to on Guernsey. I hope we can help Britain qualify for the World Champs, as well as shining a light on Guernsey sport in the process.”
You can follow their progress, results and photos from the event on the Guernsey Padel Facebook and instagram pages, @guernseypadel.
Padel tennis has been enjoying a surge in popularity across the world in recent years, and the trend has been reflected in Guernsey where the sport is growing from strength to strength. The island currently has three indoor courts, with planning permission granted to extend that to five in the next few months. Padel enjoys a vibrant playing community with more people trying the sport out each week.
