This story was updated to include the results of the Stingrays matches, along with the results of the finals.
On Tuesday, the San Diego Stingrays Padel Team began their first day of action at the Pro Padel League Tournament at the Barnes Tennis Center with a tight 2-1 loss to the Flowrida Goats. The intimate setting allowed the enthusiastic standing-room only crowd to feel like they were a part of the action. “It’s great to have a full set of fans out filling the seats to watch the Stingrays,” said Ryan Redondo, Stingrays CEO. “It is such high quality. The best of the best are out here on our courts.”
The Stingrays women’s team of Lucia Sainz and Julieta Bidahorria won their match over Aranzazu Osoro and Gemma Triay Pons, 6-3, 6-4. The women Stingrays started strong by winning the first four games of the set, closing out the first, 6-3. In the second, the Goats went up 2-0 then 3-1. The Stingrays won the next game to get to 3-2. Four of the final five games of the set went to deuce. With no-ad scoring, the point after deuce wins the game. The Stingrays competed well on these points, winning three of the four, including the final game to complete their comeback and win the set 6-4. Their offense, great communication, and nearly error-free play contributed to the win.
The Stingray men’s doubles team of Maximiliano Sánchez and Miguel Lamperti lost their match, 7-6(4), 6-3 to the Goats’ Martin Di Nenno and Pablo Lijo Santos. The Stingrays were losing or tied the entire first set, but managed to hang on to get to a tiebreaker. The second set featured four deuce games and the Goats won three of them. Those games fueled the Goats’ success in the second as they won it 6-3.
The mixed doubles team of Sainz and Sánchez competed in one set only versus the Goats’ Pablo Lima and Triay Pons. With the team score even at one match apiece, the mixed-doubles outcome was consequential. After being on serve at 1-1, the Goats broke twice and won four straight games to take a 5-1 lead. The Stingrays’ Sanchez held serve to stay in the set 5-2, but the Goat’s Triay Pons held her serve to take the set, 6-2. The Goats won the overall team competition, 2-1.
Round-robin action continues through Friday with the ten padel teams competing in two groups to earn a spot in Saturday’s Semi-finals. After two days of round robin, only Flowrida and Cancun have won both their team matches. The Los Angeles Beat played their first match yesterday and won 2-1 over the Toronto Polar Bears.
Tickets are free so get out to see the teams in action. Below, see the tournament schedule and the specific schedule for the Stingrays. For more information about the tournament and what padel is, see this Coronado Times article.
Schedule
Barnes Tennis Center, 4490 West Point Loma Boulevard, San Diego, 92107. General Admission tickets are free.
Aug 19 – 23 Round Robin
Aug 24 Semi-finals
Aug 25 Finals and 3rd/4th Place
Completed
Smash def Waves; Atlantics def Goats
Smash def Atlantics; Goats def Waves
San Diego Stingrays Scores: Round Robin
Date Stingrays (SR) Opponent
Aug 20 vs Flowrida Goats
Aug 21 vs Arkansas Matrix
Aug 22 vs Las Vegas Smash
Aug 23 vs Houston Volts
Outcome
SR 1 Goats 2
SR 2 Matrix 1
SR 0 Smash 3
SR 1 Volts 2
Tournament Update
The San Diego Stingrays went 1-3 and finished fourth of five in their group. The Las Vegas Smash and New York Atlantics competed Sunday afternoon for the Event 3 Championship at Barnes Tennis Center. The Flowrida Goats defeated the Cancun Waves 2-1 to take third place, and the Smash defeated the Atlantics, 2-0, to take the Event 3 title.
