Tennis team-up beat rugby pairing in Borders’ first padel cup final

Coldstream’s Ian Forbes and Wooler’s Tristan Jeffrey defeated former Kelso rugby players Murray Hastie and Arran Jackson by two close sets in a final played in front of around 50 fans of the fast-growing sport.

A consolation cup final saw Callum Worrall and Scott Brown beat Kieran McKillop and Craig Leitch 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Forbes said: “It feels very good to be the first Borders padel champions. It’s been a brilliant tournament and a good couple of months playing the matches.

“I think it’s been a really good standard considering there’s only been padel here since October.

“It has been great to have an activity in the winter that you can do indoors and keep fit – it is unlike our area to have something ahead of a lot of other areas – and very sociable.”

As to whether a tennis background tipped the balance in their favour, Jeffrey added: “I’m not sure.

“Neither of us had played padel before this place opened, and while we play a lot of tennis, I’m not sure it helps the padel, or padel helps the tennis, as they’re quite different games.

“Forbesy had to keep me calm in there at times because I found it nerve-wracking playing a padel final, but it was really good fun.

“The thing about padel is that it’s really easy to learn and is great fun. You don’t have to have played tennis – you can pick it up quickly, so I’d recommend it to anyone.”

The 43-year-old added: “I even had a hip op not that long ago and padel has been great for getting me back moving, so, yeah, anyone can play this.”

Jackson, over ten years their junior, said: “It has been brilliant fun and that was a quite a final.

“We’re frustrated not to win, of course, but I really enjoyed it.”

Hastie added: “I’ve loved getting to grips with padel. I wouldn’t say I’m there yet, but it’s a great sport and really easy to learn.”

None of the eight players contesting those two finals a week ago on Friday had ever tried out padel, a combination of squash and tennis, until the Borders’ first court was opened by Archie and Alex Stewart at Ednam’s Cliftonhill Farm last October.

They have welcomed more than 750 people to the court since then and there are now a handful of planning applications lodged with Scottish Borders Council for new courts near St Boswells, Melrose and Galashiels as the sport takes off in the region.

Archie Stewart has been delighted to see it grow, saying: “When I came back to Scotland after living in Spain and Australia and coaching tennis there, I had fallen in love with padel, so it was a bit of a shock to bring the family back home and discover there were no padel courts in the Borders.

“The demand for it here has surprised me a bit, but I did think there would be an appetite for it and it’s an addictive sport.

“Lots of people have been coming with their friends to learn padel, which has been great, but then inevitably as they get to grips with it, people are looking to get a bit more competitive and play other people.

“The summer cup was a great way to let people do that. We had 32 teams enter, which was great for our first time, and everyone’s absolutely loved it.

“It’s great to see players from all kinds of sport or no sporting backgrounds coming together and having fun. That was two tennis players playing against two rugby players in the final, and it was a competitive match, so it balances out quite well.”