News

It was a hugely successful weekend for Naas Lawn Tennis Club at the 4 Nations in Leeds, held on 21–22 March 2026, with no fewer than seven Naas players proudly representing Ireland across multiple categories.

The headline story of the weekend undoubtedly came from the Ladies Open, where Anna Zuka and Amy Flynn flew the flag in style. The pair helped Ireland produce a brilliant performance, finishing 2nd overall, behind England and ahead of both Scotland and Wales. Winning two of their three matches, Anna and Amy showed incredible heart, quality, and fighting spirit throughout the weekend.

Ladies Open lead the way

The Open Ladies team was half filled with Naas talent, with Anna Zuka and Amy Flynn both selected for the Irish side.

Anna, partnering Tanya Murtagh, got off to a strong start with a superb 7-5 4-6 10-2 win over Scotland’s No. 1 pair. Amy, alongside Irish tennis superstar Sinead Lohan, also delivered for Ireland with a win over Scotland’s No. 2 pair 6-4 1-6 10-4.

Against England, Anna and Tanya were involved in a real battle, narrowly losing a high-quality contest 7-6, 7-5 to the English No. 1 pair, who are both ranked inside the top 600 in the world. Amy and Sinead had a tough battle against the solid English pair, ranked 700-900, losing out 3-6 1-6 in the end. Amy and Sinead kept the Irish momentum going with another win, this time against Wales’ No. 2 pair.

The weekend ended on a high for Anna and Tanya, who produced a dominant display to beat Wales’ No. 1 pair 6-1, 6-2. Amy and Sinead were also impressive again, taking down Wales’ No. 2 pair 6-0, 6-4.

A fantastic effort all round, and a brilliant runner-up finish for Ireland in the Ladies Open.

Naas power in the Ladies Over-40s

Naas players made up an incredible three-quarters of the Irish Ladies Over-40s team, with Deirdre Ní Bhroin, Laura Gibson, and Valerie Watters all representing the club.

Valerie Watters  and Laura Gibson were desperately unlucky in their match against Scotland’s No. 1 pair, losing 15-13 in the third set after letting a few, ahem... match points slip away! 😢 It was one of those heartbreaking matches that could have gone either way. They then produced an excellent first set against England’s top pair before eventually losing 7-6, 6-2, and later faced the very strong Welsh No. 1 pair who had already beaten the English and Scottish pairings.

Deirdre Ní Bhroin, partnering Caroline Jordan from Portmarnock, faced tough opposition in Wales, Scotland and England, going down 2-0 in both ties, but battled hard throughout.

Kevin goes close in Men’s Over-40s

In the Men’s Over-40s, Kevin O’Brien teamed up with London-based, Irish born and raised Brian Condren, formerly of Bray. 

Their opening match against Scotland was a competitive affair, however, it was their first time playing together, with the pair losing 6-4, 6-4. Against England, they came up against a very strong pair and, by Kevin’s own admission, got a bit of a free lesson in how to make a padel court on his side feel double the size! losing 6-1, 6-0.

But the best was saved for Wales. Kevin and Brian, getting used to each other's playing styles and working better as a pair, bounced back superbly and came agonisingly close to a win, losing a nail-biter 6-4, 2-6, 10-8. In the end, they were just two points away from victory, with a slow start to the match tiebreak, going 4-1 down too early, proving too much to overcome.

Pete takes one for the team

Special mention also goes to Pete Lowther, who was the only man brave enough to “step down” and play at a tougher level in the Over-50s, after a late injury forced a reshuffle in the Irish team.

Partnering Fintan from Celbridge, Pete put in a strong performance and gave the English pair a real run for their money, despite losing out in straight sets. A great example of stepping up for the team when needed.

Flying the flag for Naas

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend for Naas LTC, with players contributing across the board and representing both club and country with distinction.

And while the over-40s and over-50s squads battled bravely all weekend, it was the “younger guns” Anna and Amy who really lit up Leeds and showed the rest how it’s done.

A brilliant weekend for Naas, a brilliant weekend for Ireland, and plenty of memories to bring home.

Be sure to keep an eye on Louis Jarrod’s youtube channel (Irish men’s open player) who will have a good video or two coming up of some of their matches!

You can catch some of the action again in these match recaps: Match Stream 1 and Match Stream 2.

NLTC PADEL GRADING REVIEW

Thursday 19-3-26

Groups & Times

Well done to everyone who took part in our second senior Open Padel tournament on the 13-15^th of June sponsored by Heroes Padel 

Congratulations to our winners

Ladies: Valerie Watters & Laura Gibson

Mens: David Borton & Ian O'Connell

Mixed: Deirdre Ni Bhroin & Jimmy Dunne

It was a fantastic atmosphere tonight, with over 40 enthusiastic supporters braving the chilly conditions. The match ended in a 1-1 tie, with Anna and Anna securing a hard-fought victory in two close sets, while Laura and Amy narrowly lost in a champions tiebreak.  To decide the winners, Anna and Anna teamed up once more for a final champions tiebreak, claiming victory 10-7 and earning the title of Ladies Class 1 champions! 👏
 

Dublin Padel League Round up

Please find below a summary of the group matches so far.
Ladies Round Up

Naas 1 Womens - Class 1

Players: 
Anna Kurkul, Anna Zuka, Laura Gibson, Amy Flynn

Naas 1 vs  Fitz 2 
walk over
 
Naas 1 vs Bushy 2
Anna & Anna v Barbara & Mercedes, Amy & Laura v Ida & Maria 
Score: 2-0, 2-0, Naas win
comfortable win in straight sets

Bushy 1 vs Naas 1
Sharon & Suzanne v Anna & Anna, Marjorie & Francisca v Amy & Laura
Score: 0-2, 0-2, Naas win 
very good win in straight sets against top female players in Ireland

Fitz 1 vs Naas
Score: Walkover (Fitz 1 withdrew), Naas win

Naas 1 v Naas 2

The National Indoor Championship recently concluded at PadelZone Celbridge, marking a triumphant event celebrated over two weekends. Enthusiasts and participants alike revelled in the high-energy atmosphere, with over 150 players competing showcasing the growing popularity and competitive spirit of padel.

Naas LTC were well represented in the ladies open competition with members of the club making 5 of the 8 players in the semi-finals and 3 members in the final. Anna Kurkul (Naas LTC) and Azucena del Mar Aragon Boza (Bushy Park Padel) following 7 gruelling matches over the weekend were crowned national indoor champions! Laura McCann & Anna Zuka (both Naas LTC) fought hard against them in the final but lost 2-1. Amy Flynn (Naas LTC) & Milena Cunha (Celbridge) played some lovely padel to reach the semi finals as did Dee Byrne (Naas LTC) & Debbie Brown (Portmarnock).

Naas LTC members Alex O'Shea and Barry Leavy enjoyed their experiences playing competitive padel coming up against some tough opponents in the intermediate section and they reached the semis of the consolation. Kevin O’Brien and Pete Lowther, both padel coaches in Naas LTC, teamed up together to compete against the young guns. It wasn’t to be for them going out at the quarter final stage in the Men’s Open Category. 

Cavan IPT

Well done to Anna K, Emma, Valerie, Amy, Katie, Anna Z, Katie, Dee, John, Julian, Gus and Stuart for taking part. Great padel was played with 3 Naas pairs reaching the semi finals - Anna K & Emma, Anna Z & Katie, John & Julian and for Valerie and Amy winning the plate. 

Bushy Park IPT

A strong showing from NLTC Padel Crew with 8 members competing in the tournament. 

Kevin, John, Julian, Dee, Anna Z, Valerie, Laura M, Laura G

Julian & John made the quarters along with Kevin (and Dave from Celbridge). 

The ladies were leading the charge with Anna and Laura M reaching the semifinals and Valerie and Laura G winning the Plate. 

And to top it off, a huge well done to Anna & Julian for reaching the finals of the Mixed. Only to be beaten by an ex Irish tennis international Rachel Dillon and Fede Raffo a regular on the Vets Irish Padel team. 

The FIP Seniors World Padel Championships took part in La Nucia, Spain where 24 teams took part in the week long competition. Ireland sent a squad of 20 male players all aged 35+ to compete in the team event. Each tie between countries consisted of 5 matches in different age categories; O-35, -40, -45, -50 and -55’s. 2 players played in each age category and the first team to 3 wins win!

The Kildare padel community was well represented with Kevin O’Brien, Julian Morrison and Pete Lowther from Naas LTC, and Dave Borton from Padelzone Celbridge competing for Ireland.

Going into to the tournament, we knew it was going to be a tough ask, competing with countries where padel has been played for 60 years. The tournament was organised into 8 groups of 3 countries each playing each other in a small round robin to determine who continues to play off for positions 1-8, 9-16 and 17-24. Ireland was drawn against Australia & Italy. Italy, seeded 5 and Australia being led by former Grand Slam tennis champion and World No 1 Pat Rafter, it was going to be a tough ask to get out of the group!

Up first was Australia with Dave & Pete competing in the O55 category. Dave and Pete played phenomenal to win the first set against the Aussie pair 7-6, but the Aussies fought hard and won the next set and the match tie break. Pat Rafter displayed his impressive rackets skills by dominating the match in the O50’s category with a smile on his face! Kevin alongside his playing partner Paul McGlade lost out to two world ranked players (440 and 660) 600 6-3, 6-3. The following day was a tough match against the Italians with all Irish pairs losing 2-0. Following these two losses we were in the playoff for 17-24.

Uruguay were our opposition which proved to be a fiery encounter as part of the Irish team, renowned tennis coach Federico Raffo of Uruguayan descent was playing for team Ireland! Dave and Pete again led the show and opened with a great win in the O55 category 6-1 6-1. Unfortunately, the next 3 matches went like that too, but just Uruguay. Kevin & Paul had an extremely close match losing 7-5 in the third set to the O40 Uruguayan pair.

Next up we faced a Czech team led by the formidable top goal scorer for the Czech National Soccer Team, Jan Koller! Jan was playing in the O45 category and beat our Irish pair with his clinical overheads. Dave and Pete did a great turn for the team by splitting their partnership. Dave played in the O55 category with Brian Kavanagh and Pete played with Stuart Duggan in the O50 category. Incredibly both pairs won in a 3^rd set match tie break! Ireland were 2-0 up and in a good position. Kevin & Paul faced two fulltime padel players from Czech Republic living in Spain and unfortunately lost 6-3 6-2. The Czech Republic won the final matches to win the tie 3-2 and leave Ireland playing for the wooden spoon.

The final match allowed Ireland to change the team and give some of the reserves a chance to shine. Julian Morrison only new to padel in the last 8 months since the introduction of the courts in Naas LTC, trained very hard to make the squad the last few months and was with the team for the week. Julian played alongside Stuart Duggan in the O45 category and lost their match against a very solid pair. Dave and Pete did as they do so well and started the tie off with a 2-0 win. As did our O35 pair. But it wasn’t our day as Japan took the tie 3-2.

Competing at this level was a real eye opener for a lot of the players who wouldn’t have been aware of the level padel is played at around the world, on the World Padel Tour. While we did finish last in the tournament, it’s a credit to the players and team for getting there, setting the foundations for more to come. Once Ireland has more indoor courts and training facilities, clubs embracing padel we will be a competitive nation in time. However, with padel in its infancy here we may have to wait a while!

Padel in Naas LTC is going from strength to strength since its inception just over a year ago New members are joining every week. We have over 200 active padel players each month and if its something you’d like to find out more about, just contact the club. Padelzone Celbridge is an impressive facility with 5 indoor courts to choose play located at O’Hanlon Park Golf Range & Football Park.

IMG: Full Irish mens team