The Costa Rican team finished with a historic fifth place in the Wheelchair Paddle World Championship after defeating their counterpart from the Netherlands 2-1 with a score of 2-1. “There is no doubt that fifth place in the world is great for a team that has only a few months of practicing this discipline. We were the sensation of the tournament. Honestly, it is an incredibly good position”, indicated José Pablo Gil.
In their debut, Costa Rica lost 3-0 to Spain, current world champions. But far from losing their spirits, the Costa Ricans went out into the game box to surprise the world of Paddle tennis with their first win by defeating Morocco 2-1.
With that victory, the Costa Ricans went in search of a pass to the semifinal against France, which was given “a scare” when against all odds the game ended 2-1 in favor of the Gauls. “That defeat against France, far from lowering our spirits, raised us, seeing that we could play face to face with the traditional teams. For this reason, against the Netherlands we sought the victory, and it was given to us”, Gil mentioned proudly.
The Wheelchair Paddle World Cup was held from May 12th to 14th in Madrid, Spain. The historic National Team was made up of AmaliaOrtuño, Gilberto Pochet, Steven Enríquez, Joshua Chaves, Fabian Solís, and José Pablo Gil.
The competition was held in the town of Serranillos del Valle with 10 countries: Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Chile, Argentina, an African team, and Costa Rica. Costa Rica made up Group A together with the National Teams of Spain, France, and Morocco.
