The 17th FIP World Padel Championship concluded in Doha with champions from 2022 retaining their trophies.
Argentina plotted an emphatic comeback to lift their 12th men’s championship, ending Spain’s hopes of lifting both the men’s and women’s titles at the 17th FIP World Padel Championship in Doha.
It was in Doha that the Spanish contingent had completed the double in 2021, yet emphatic performances in the second and third games from Argentinian duos Augustin Tapia and Frederico Chingotto, along with Valentino Libaak and Leandro Augsuburger, denied La Roja from completing yet another double.
Earlier, Spain had put themselves in a commanding position, having won the women’s finals 2-0 to secure their sixth consecutive title in the category.
Reigning world number one Arturo Coello and Jorge Nieto then started the men’s final on a high, catching Matin Di Nenno and Franco Stupaczuk by surprise to win the first set 6-1.
Coello and Nieto again proved to be too good against the superpibes from Argentina in the second set as they won 6-2 with ease to gain the upper hand in the much-anticipated tie.
However, the prolific duo of Juan Lebron and Alejandro Galan – who parted ways last March after winning 33 titles together – were met with fierce competition in Augustin Tapia and Frederico Chingotto of Argentina.
It then turned out to be a game to be remembered for ages. Argentina ultimately secured the victory, but not without experiencing intense drama along the way.
The first set went to Argentina on tiebreaker but Galan and Lebron bounced back in the second set to win 6-3 and take the tie to a decisive third set.
Chingotto and Tapia then brought the best of their performances to win the third set 6-2 and clinch the intense second game, which lasted more than two hours.
With all to play for, both sides went all out in the third game. Earlier, Argentina had come close to winning both the games that they eventually ended up losing to hand Spain the title in the women’s category.
Argentina’s Libaak and Augsuburger were then tasked to bring the 12th title home, yet stumbled early as Spain’s Francisco Navarro and Miguel Yanguas broke 5-3 to win the first set.
Despite leading the second set 4-2, the Argentinians were then met with a resilient fight back, yet held on to win 7-5 in the tiebreak.
Spain then came close to replicating the feat that their female counterparts had done, breaking 4-3 in the deciding set. Augsuburger was down in the tense tiebreaker after Argentina managed to draw 6-6 as the Bombardero suffered a muscle injury.
Yet, the Argentina duo finally broke the deadlock to win 7-6 in the tiebreak to end up on the joyous side, singing Dale Campion all along.
Portugal clinch historic bronze
Earlier, Portugal won a historic bronze medal on Saturday.
“It is a dream come true,” Ricardo da Silva Oliveira, president of Portugal’s Padel federation, told Doha News.
The Portuguese side beat Italy 2-0 to clinch their first podium finish at the World Championship, having narrowly missed out in Dubai in 2022 when they lost 2-1 to France.
“When we began the federation twelve years ago, the goal was to win bronze first,” Olivera added. “Now, it is to compete against Argentina and Spain, which will take time.”
In the women’s category, Italy won bronze for the third consecutive time, denying Portugal their second-ever bronze.
Qatar finish last
Hosts Qatar’s campaign came to a disappointing end as Al Annabi succumbed 2-0 to Paraguay in the 15-16 place final.
The defeat saw Qatar end the tournament in the bottom spot with only one game win to their name, which came against Uruguay in the last group stage game, courtesy of Mohammed Saadon Al-Kuwari and Abdullah Al-Hijji’s impressive 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win.
Qatar had lost to Belgium 2-0 in the 9-12 place tie and then fell to the 15-16 place final having lost to Mexico 3-0.
UAE, meanwhile, finished fifth, beating Brazil 2-0 in the 5-6 place finals to cap off a historic achievement.
The attention now shifts to Dubai for the Qatar Airways Premier Padel, set to be held from November 3 to November 10.
