From UK padel champion to mock exam in 24 hours

4 days ago 2

Guernsey siblings Chloe and Liam De La Mare made it to the final stages of the first LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) UK padel championships.

Chloe, 15, won the Under-18s category as well as making it through to the semi-finals of the open age category, in the event last month.

Brother Liam finished runner up in the men's category. Chloe said "Me and my partner (Rosie Quirck) have been working hard all season so it feels nice for it to all come off."

Back in Guernsey, Chloe had less than a day's turnaround before she was taking exams: "It was weird but I had my GCSE mocks straight away so I had to take English language paper."

Chloe De La Mare hitting a ball while practising padel in Guernsey

Liam narrowly missed out on taking the under-18s title losing 7-6 in the final but said he was happy with the result and that his hard work was starting to pay off.

"It's been great it feels like we've gone really far," he said.

"I feel like the ranking is just a kind of element of that it's just playing tournaments doing quite well in tournaments so yeah I mean it's just really all coming together."

Liam and Chloe De La Mare with rackets in hand

The siblings have previously been selected to represent Great Britain at the FIP (International Padel Federation), Junior World cup in Spain and the LTA's Pro Am Padel Tour, in which celebrities such as Comedian Jason Manford and former England rugby player Joe Marler took on professional players.

The duo have ambitions to play on the international stage in the future.

Liam said it looked "quite likely" padel would be an Olympic sport by 2032.

"It would be a dream come true to be involved in the team," he added.

Sara Woolland, who works with Guernsey Tennis and Padel, said if the sport was added to the games in 2032 it would be the perfect time for the pair.

She said: "They're both doing phenomenally well, and I think there's every chance that they could all make it to the Olympics."