Three teams from Wiltshire travelled to Bristol last weekend to compete in the first-ever UK Padel County Championships.

Wiltshire sent teams for the women’s, men’s, and mixed competitions at the event at Rocket Padel in Bristol to see if they could become the first-ever county champions on November 18 and 19, with the competition being streamed on the UK Padel YouTube channel.

The Wiltshire teams were just three of the 44 sides representing counties that descended on Bristol for the competition, involving regions from East Scotland to the Channel Islands.

The women’s team made up of Alicia Hazzard, Patricia De Lucas, Sarah Boyce, and Sylvie Darrieumerlou, who are all from Swindon, had a great competition and came agonisingly close to making the semi-finals.

On the opening day of the competition, they picked up wins against Devon and Cheshire 2 in matches played at a very high level.

With a place in the semi-finals on the line on day two, Wiltshire battled hard against the Channel Islands for two hours, before eventually succumbing to a ten-point match tiebreak. Yorkshire would go on to be the winners in the women’s section.

Despite being handed a tough draw in the mixed competition, which included the number one seeds Sussex, who boasted Team GB players, the team of Alicia Hazzard, Patricia De Lucas, Jack Notton, and Calli Smith gave a great account of themselves.

They picked up a victory in their first match by two rubbers to nil against Gloucestershire, prior to taking Surrey all the way to a 13-11 championship tiebreak, and so losing to the side that would go on to be crowned champions.

Jack Notton, Calli Smith, Ryan Williams, and Lucca Durazzo were the men’s team and were another team that was hampered by a difficult group stage draw.

The men saw off neighbouring counties Somerset and Oxfordshire with impressive wins, but their competition came to an end after defeats against Surrey and Buckinghamshire. East Scotland ended up being crowned champions of the men’s tournament.

Tournament Director Mark Ayers said of the competition: “Padel players tend to be relaxed and friendly, there was a remarkable spirit about things. This social dimension was something I really hoped would flourish and it was particularly pleasing.

“It was special, and the entry exceeded my expectations. we had more than 160 players competing and that is just outstanding for the first tournament.”