Under the skies of Taranto, on the evening of 21 August, the flag was raised to mark the start of the 20th edition of the Mediterranean Games, with padel making its debut as a medal sport. Over the course of seven days, 19 countries — including Spain and Portugal — will compete at the Salinella Mediterranean Park in pursuit of glory.
The padel tournament kicked off today, 22 August, at 10.00. The competition features a men’s draw comprising 24 pairs, eight of whom are seeded; a women’s draw comprising 19 pairs and three round of 32 matches to determine who progresses to the round of 16; and a mixed draw comprising 12 pairs, four of whom are seeded.
Following the draw, and thanks to their positions in the FIP rankings – which guarantee them top-seed status and direct qualification for the round of 16 in all categories – the national teams of Portugal and Spain will not make their debut until 23 August.
Who will the Spanish national team be playing against?
Guillermo Collado and Pol Hernández, the number one pair with extensive experience playing together, will make their debut against the winner of the match on 22 August (8.00 pm) between the Egyptians Youssef Hossam and Georges Wakim and Tiziano Lucarelli and Fabrizio Peloni, representing Vatican City (guest nation).
At the opposite end of the draw are José Antonio Diestro and David Gala, the second seeds, who will make their debut against the Tunisians, Mehdi Elloumi and Mohamed Aziz, who this morning won their match against the Greeks Pavlos-Louis Balafas and Vasileios Sioulis by a score of 6-3, 6-3.
In the women’s draw, Patricia LLaguno and Lucía Sainz, the tournament’s number two pair, will kick off their campaign against the Montenegrins Jelena Matijević and Ivanka Simonović.
Meanwhile, Nuria Rodriguez and Jimena Velasco, the third seeds, are preparing to face the winners of today’s match at 5.00 pm between the Croatians Karolina Balog and Lea Jurković and the Serbs Ana Mirković and Teodora Nikolić.
Who will the Portuguese national team be up against?
As for the Portuguese team, in the men’s draw, Miguel Deus and Nuno Deus, the fourth seeds, will make their debut against the Kosovars Lavdrim Krasniqi and Leotrim Krasniqi, who this morning beat the Turks Alihan Ozbayrak and Unsal Ataol Toker 7-6(4), 6-3.
Meanwhile, Peu Araújo and Pedro Graça, the tournament’s seventh-seeded pair, will face the Slovenians Simon Javoršek and Boštjan Repanšek in the round of 16, after the latter defeated the Serbs Uros Acimov and Petar Certic 6-1, 6-2.
In the women’s draw, Sofia Araújo and Ana Catarina Nogueira, the only Portuguese representatives, will start as the top seeds and face the Turkish pair Zeynep Kocak and Didenaz Polat.
In the mixed doubles, siblings Sofia Araújo and Peu Araújo will join forces on court to take on the winners of the tie between the Cypriots Sergis Kyratzis and Maria Siopacha and the Turks Zeynep Kocak and Unsal Ataol Toker.
