Nederlands
The 2017 NPB Official Padel Competition is about to start. With it, it is time to start wondering and speculating as to which of the teams will be crowned champion for the advanced category.
The 2016’s Champion, a candidate?
The first team to consider is the squad lead by Ewan Watson. In 2016 his group was crowned Champions of the pilot padel competition playing for Play Padel Club Amsterdam. Today he is leading a slightly different squad. They are currently representing his home city of Utrecht, playing for Racketcentrum Houten. Thou you could argue that back in 2016 most advanced players did not participate in the competition, this team is still a force to be reckoned. It features high level tennis players (Abe Straatsma and Peter Amerika) and experienced tennis coaches Ewan Watson and Jeroen Froma. The team is completed by youth tennis wonder Milou Ettekoven and Marijn Koot.
La Playa is not just about the sun
La Playa surely invites you to relax and have fun. But the seven players comprising the La Playa squad are not participating in the padel competition simply to enjoy a day under the sun. Team Captain Marcel Bogaart has assembled a group that includes few of the highest level padel players in Holland. Some of them are Kees-Jan Schuilemburg, Uriel Maarsen, Jeroen Nigten and Piet Koetsier. All of them competed at National Team level, either at the World or European Padel Championship. Ambitious Miquel Verhagen and multi-racket sport talent Rompert Anjema are also in the team. Their international racket sport experience and competitiveness is a strong asset. A second advantage is that they count seven players in the group. This facilitates rotation of players and guarantee some rest for all of them. But can they truly keep their intrinsic “individualistic” tennis instincts to become a real team?
In the coming days we will further analyze other strong teams and players. Come back soon to check our next article.
