Spain crowned at the III Padball Nations Cup in Eisenstadt

The Spanish team, formed by Javier Asensio, Fide Santiago and Fran Santiago defeated the Romanian team in the final by 6-3 and 7-6.

Spain - Champions - Nations Cup 2024 - Austria
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From September 6 to 8, the city of Eisenstadt, Austria, was the scene of the third edition of the Nations Cup of Padbol. The tournament brought together 8 countries: Spain, Romania, Portugal, Italy, Qatar, Hungary, Germany and Austria, with an exceptional level of competition and electrifying matches.
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Spain, two-time champion

The Spanish team, formed by Javier Asensio, Fide Santiago and Fran Santiago, won the title for the second consecutive time, thus reaffirming their dominance in the competition. It is worth mentioning that these same players had already reached 4th place in the last World Padball Championship held in 2023 in Santos, Brazil.
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Tournament development and historical participation

Over the three days of competition, the countries were first drawn into two groups and then paired in the Final Phase with direct elimination from the Quarterfinals onwards.
Romania, a priori one of the favorites, counted on the current world champions: Victoras Popescu, elected MVP of this tournament, and Olivian Surugiu, who suffered an injury in the semifinal and had to be replaced. Mugurel Vrabie and Gabriel Turnea completed the Romanian team that finally lost 3-6 and 6-7 to the Spaniards in the deciding match.
The podium was completed by the Portuguese, runners-up in last year’s Nations Cup, who returned to the podium in this edition after winning the match for third and fourth place against Italy, whose Federation continues to grow and establish itself as part of the Padbol elite.
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The format of the tournament allowed each country to include substitutes and make changes, which added dynamism and greater tactical possibilities for the competition.
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Growth of the tournament

Since its first edition in 2022 in Vienna, where four countries participated (Hungary, Italy, Germany and Austria), the Nations Cup has experienced a remarkable growth. The Hungarians were crowned champions on that occasion after their victory over Italy.
In 2023, the second edition was held in Hungary, with six countries, and was the starting point for Spanish dominance in this competition. In that final they beat Portugal.
Eight countries participated in the current edition. For the first time in this tournament there was a non-European team (Qatar). The Qataris were sixth in the aforementioned World Cup last year and achieved fifth place in the Nations Cup 2024, consolidating their rapid growth in this sport.

News and Partnerships

Thanks to the cooperation of Burgenland-Energy, the company Solah and Padbol Austria, we were able to experience a world premiere: the world’s first Padbol court in a panoramic look with PV roof.
This innovative outdoor court, which can be played all year round thanks to the photovoltaic system, enriches the sports landscape of communities and offers schools and sports clubs a new trendy sport.
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The main sponsor of the tournament was Bank Austria, a member of Unicredit.
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The official broadcast of the tournament was carried out by the Burgerland Energie channel. Day 1: First part (presentation), Second part (group stage), Third part (group stage). Day 2: Quarterfinals and Semifinals. Day 3: Final.
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Groups and complete results:

Group A: Romania, Spain, Hungary and Austria.
Group B: Italy, Portugal, Qatar and Germany.

Friday 6/9/2024.

-Group Phase:
Group A:
ROM-AUT: 6-0 6-1
ESP-HUN: 6-4 6-1
ROM-HUN: 6-0 6-1
ESP-AUT: 6-1 6-1
ROM-ESP: 6-2 3-6 7-3
HUN-AUT: 6-2 6-1

Group B:
POR-GER: 6-1 6-1
ITA-QAT: 6-4 6-4
POR-ITA: 6-4 3-6 6-1
QAT-GER: 5-7 7-6 7-1
POR-QAT: 3-6 6-2 7-3
ITA-GER: 6-3 6-3

Saturday 7/9/2024.

-Qarterfinals:
POR-HUN: 6-3 6-3
ROM-GER: 6-1 6-1
ESP-QAT: 6-2 6-2
ITA-AUT: 6-1 6-1

-Semi-Final:
ROM-POR: 6-1 6-4
SP-ITA: 6-2 6-4

Sunday 8/9/2024.
-3rd and 4th place:
POR-ITA 6-0 4-6 7-5

-Final:
ESP-ROM: 6-3 7-6.

Final positions:

1- SPAIN (Javier Asensio, Fide Santiago, Fran Santiago).
2- ROMANIA (Victoras Popescu, Olivian Surugiu, Mugurel Vrabie, Gabriel Turnea).
3- PORTUGAL (Ricardo Marques, Guilherme Henriques, Antonio Henriques, Ricardo Correia).
4- ITALY (Alessandro Vender, Simo Angiletta, Fabio Argiolas, Gianluca Loddo, Filippo Lai).
5- CATAR (Salem Al Marri, Mubarak, Al-Salem, Abdulaziz).
6- HUNGARY
7- GERMANY (Francisco Prieto, Francisco TomĆ”s ā€œPatxoā€).
8- AUSTRIA (Gyuri Garics, Alexander Hamm, Gƶkhan Ɯnver).

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