Estonia's men's padel team out in the group stage at the European Championships in Spain
The men opened the championship with a convincing win but went no further than their group; the women lost their first tie to Denmark.
Estonia's men's national padel team went out at the group stage of the European Championships in Spain, after opening the tournament with a convincing win.
The women's team lost its first tie of the championship to Denmark.
The European Championships are the continent's main competition for national teams, with countries meeting in ties made up of several doubles matches rather than pairs playing for ranking points. ERR Sport followed both Estonian squads through the week in Spain.
National team weeks are the rare point in the season when a Baltic pair plays under a flag instead of for points, and Estonia put out both a men's and a women's squad. That alone says something about the club base the federation now picks from.
Padel has grown quickly in Estonia and has climbed into the top ten sports by participation, ERR has reported. The game has also pulled in players from elsewhere in Estonian sport: former tennis professional Anett Kontaveit plays padel recreationally.
For readers following the Estonian team, the pattern of the week was a strong first match for the men and then no route out of the group, while the women's championship began with a defeat against one of the stronger northern European programmes.
Sources: ERR Sport