SG Pipers Cheetahs crowned champions of World Padel League with massive 24-15 win
Mumbai: After four days of thrilling padel action, SG Pipers Cheetahs lifted the World Padel League title with a massive 24-15 victory over Vernost Jaguars in the finals at the Nesco Center here on Saturday. In the mixed doubles, SG Pipers Cheetahs’ Pol Hernandez and Julieta Bidahorria raced to a 3-0 lead, but Vernost Jaguars’ Alejandro Arroyo and María Riera fought back with three consecutive games to level at 3-3.
SG Pipers Cheetahs responded strongly, winning two back-to-back games to go 5-3 up. However, Vernost Jaguars showed great resilience, claiming four straight games to clinch the set 7-5.
In the women’s doubles, Vernost Jaguars’ Alejandra Salazar and Tamara Icardo broke SG Pipers Cheetahs’ Claudia Fernandez and Beatriz Gonzalez’s opening serve, but Jaguars immediately responded with a break to level at 1-1. From there, SG Pipers Cheetahs took complete control as they did not allow their opponents another game and sealed a dominant 6-1 victory, putting their team 11-8 ahead in the overall games.
The first men’s doubles was a closely contested set, but SG Pipers Cheetahs’ Enrique Goenaga and Teodoro Zapata held their nerve in the tiebreak to edge past Vernost Jaguars’ David Sanchez and Aris Patiniotis, securing a 7-6 win and also extending their lead to 18-14. In the final set, SG Pipers Cheetahs’ Francisco Guerrero and Juanlu Esbri dominated Vernost Jaguars’ Lucas Campagnolo and Maximiliano Sanchez, securing a commanding 6-1 victory. Their emphatic performance sealed a massive 24-15 overall win, crowning SG Pipers Cheetahs champions of the competition.
Speaking after the win, SG Pipers Cheetahs’ Enrique Goenaga expressed, “It has been an amazing week for us, and I want to congratulate all my teammates for winning the title. We played at an amazing level and are really happy with how the season went by.” His teammate Juanlu Esbri added, “It was really good to play in front of the Indian fans. We could feel that they were enjoying our play. It was our first year in India, and we are sure that padel will grow in the country and it would be great to come back.”
With support from the Indian Padel Federation (IPF), the World Padel League made a spectacular debut in India. The tournament was nothing short of a spectacle, captivating a wide range of sports enthusiasts and marking a new chapter in Indian padel history.