The Essex men’s, women’s and Mixed team showed the 217 competitors at the UK PADEL County Championships the way as they swept the board with all three titles.

The biggest UK PADEL County Champs ever was spread across two venues for the first time and the level of padel on display also multiplied. The Men’s being played at Surge Padel in the morning and then joining up with the main venue Rocket Padel in the afternoon, both venues were superb competition hosts to 29 Counties and over 60 teams in the Men’s, Women’s and Mixed events.

There was a big gear shift in quality of padel being played across the board from that witnessed at the inaugural county champs stages last November. An early indication of this was a group stage match where the Wiltshire mixed team (a county with just three courts) took the Essex team (including UK number 1 Sarah Lochrie) into a Champions Shoot and narrowly lost.

The mixed final was viewed by hundreds of spectators on Saturday night as we hosted a player’s party at the venue but also thousands on the live-streamed action with commentary on the UK PADEL YouTube channel.

Essex came out champions, defeating a Hertfordshire team who had played wonderfully well all day winning all three of their group matches against tough opposition.

In the Women’s competition the irrepressible Yorkshire women’s team once again dominated throughout the day proving too strong for any team that stood in their way, and with a good win over Surrey in the group stages. But they had to come up against an Essex team in the final in a fiercely competitive match, with the pairing of Sarah Lochrie and Jo Ward playing some extraordinary shots along the way to secure their match in the tie break and the title for Essex.

The men’s final concluded the weekend. A more dramatic match you could not have wished for. After seeing Surrey take the first rubber to finish, the first Essex pairing dug deep and came back from behind to win their string by the narrowest of margins. The match went into a Champions Shoot-out with the Essex pairing of Jake Bewley and Ethan Bardo suddenly finding an extra gear to overcome the Surrey pair of Chris Salisbury and Ed Tandy. You can see how that played out 10-4 in the Championship shoot out here

There will, no doubt, be some aching limbs attached to the 217 competitors today but also a huge collective warm glow of achievement and enjoyment, with every participant contributing to a phenomenal weekend of competitive padel.

Well done once again to Essex for their marvellous clean sweep

Women’s 2024 UK PADEL County Champions Essex, Runners up Yorkshire
Men’s 2024 UK PADEL County Champions Essex, Runners up Surrey
Mixed 2024 UK PADEL County Champions Essex, Runners up Hertfordshire

Many thanks to the Event Sponsors ACT Sports, Hexa Padel, Back In Action for their support in taking this UK PADEL County Championship to the next level.