Padel54's Men's Emerald Rain team swapped Moira for the Adriatic coast, travelling out to Croatia for the EPL Croatia Cup, a weekend of matches against club sides from right across Europe.
Hosted by Samobor Stars on a beautiful stretch of Croatian island, the Cup brought teams over from Argentina, Serbia, Poland and beyond alongside the Men's Emerald Rain team, all in for three days of padel, sunshine and outstanding local hospitality. Courts were shared, food and stories swapped between ties, and the tour's reputation as a genuinely international community was on full display.
The standard across the field was high, and Men's Emerald Rain found themselves tested match after match against sides who had made the same journey to compete. It's exactly the kind of fixture the club wants more of: a chance to play against opposition you don't see every weekend, in a country most of the squad had never set foot in before.
Friends, old and new
In the end it was London Rocks who lifted the EPL Croatia Cup, with Los Gauchos of Argentina the runners-up and the life of the party throughout. For Men's Emerald Rain, the result on the scoreboard mattered less than the trip itself: new friendships forged across the net, and a standard of competition the squad will be chasing again at the next stop on the tour.
Thank you to the Euro Padel League and Samobor Stars for hosting such a memorable weekend. The trophy now travels on to the EPL Club World Cup this July, and Men's Emerald Rain will be looking to go one better next time out.
