Thursday’s quarterfinals will not see the hosts in action as Qatar finished at the bottom of Group C after a third consecutive defeat.
Qatar failed to secure a spot in the last eight at the FIP World Padel Championship 2024 following a defeat against Uruguay, on an evening where UAE made history by qualifying to the next round.
The hosts lost 2-1 at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex’s GrandStand 2 as fellow Gulf nation UAE beat Mexico with the same score on the adjacent court.
Mohammed Saadon Al-Kuwari and Abdullah Al-Hijji managed to win Qatar’s first game of the tournament, putting on a stellar performance to win 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the third game.
That only served as a consolation for the hosts as Uruguay had already won the match beforehand, winning both games.
The duo of Hassan Waly and Jabor Al-Mutawam, the first to compete for Qatar, went down 6-3, 6-3 to Martin Araujo and Matias Ilardia Meyer without giving a tough competition.
Despite a promising start, Mohammed Al-Khanji and Amr Hassan then lost 6-2, 6-1 in the second match against Diego Ramos and Higor Ensslin, effectively ending Qatar’s hopes of bowing out with a win.
Only Al-Kuwari and Al-Hijji could put on a show to warm up the home crowd as UAE celebrated their achievement in GrandStand 1.
“We had a hard luck in the first match, but the last game was good,” Qatar’s head coach Pablo Sisti told Doha News after the match. “I’m satisfied [with the last match] and we need to continue that tomorrow.”
Al Annabi came to the tie after two losses against France and Chile, which had already eliminated them from contention for the quarterfinals. Qatar will now face Belgium on Thursday.
UAE, meanwhile, had defeated Paraguay in Group B to keep their hopes of qualification alive and will now face Portugal, aiming to continue the run.
Spain and Argentina going strong
Title contenders Spain and Argentina continued their dominant run in the tournament to book places in the last eight with yet another 3-0 win in their respective matches.
Italy also qualified for the quarterfinals from Argentina’s Group A as UAE joined Spain from Group B.
France and Chile made their way to the top eight from Qatar’s Group C, while Portugal and Brazil finished at the top of Group D to complete the quarter-finals bracket in the men’s category.
The bottom two sides from each group will also be competing on Thursday to decide rankings from 9-16 spots.
In the women’s category, Spain, Argentina and France advanced without losing a single game and will be joined by the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, and Brazil.
Like the men’s event, the women’s title has only been shared between Spain and Argentina so far, with Brazil’s finale run in 2012 being the highest achievement for the rest of the teams.
