Grade 4, NI Club Series. Saturday 17 October, Padel54, Moira.
Twenty-four pairs. Forty-eight players. Forty-six matches from four o’clock until just before eleven, and a club that was full for all of it. We couldn’t have asked for a better start for what we hope shapes padel in Northern Ireland for the better.
We just want to thank everyone who played and supported, without you we wouldn’t be here.
Amazing padel was on display from the start, the intensity and competitiveness was there. This is what will drive the standard forward for NI.
Cup final
Tom Harty / James Cowan
def. Jordan Murray-Barlow / Scott Ullmann
6-1 7-5
The first set was one-way traffic. The second was a different match, level at 5-5 before Harty and Cowan found the gear that settled it. They are the first winners of an NI Padel event.
Bowl final
Michael Kearney / Peter Carson
def. Rivaldo Teggart / David Alvarado
4-2 3-4 [10-7]
The match of the night for drama. One set apiece, everything on a championship tie-break, and Kearney and Carson found the extra gear to take it 10-7.
To our finalists, Jordan, Scott, Rivaldo and David, you were part of two of the best matches of the night, and you pushed the champions all the way.
The first ranking points
Everyone who played is now on the NI Padel rankings. Forty-eight players, ranked for the first time, with a record that carries into every event from here.
Harty and Cowan lead on 125 points. Murray-Barlow and Ullmann are joint third on 85. Results count for fifty-two weeks, so nobody holds a place for long. The list is live at nipadel.com/rankings.
Not only on court
The story of Saturday wasn’t only on court. It was the noise from the sidelines, the friends who stayed late for the last point, and a community that turned up and made a first event feel like it had been running for years. We were blown away.
Where this goes
Event 1 is the first step towards a regular, ranked tournament calendar for padel in Northern Ireland, giving players at every level a pathway to compete, improve and climb.
- Sat 7 November, Grade 4 at Let’s Go Padel, East Belfast
- Sat 14 November, Grade 3 at Padel54. No rating cap, any standard.
- Sun 15 November, our first women’s tournament, Grade 3 at Padel54
- Sat 5 December, Grade 2 at FEAT4
- Sat 2 January, Grade 3 at Powerhouse Padel
Entries are open at nipadel.com/tournaments.
Thank you
To every player, every supporter, the whole team at Padel54 who always set the bar so high, and the partners who believed in this from day one.
- Andrew Currie, AC Human
- Stuart McKeating, BIA
- Joe Cripps, Babolat
- Shaun Birrell, Vanta Padel
Andrew and Stuart did not just back it, they entered and played it.
The next chapter is coming. See you at East Belfast.