Potter Cup 2018

On Thursday afternoon, the IC Ireland team of Jane Conan (Captain), Emma Doyle and Eimear Sloan arrived in Barcelon to play in the third ladies Potter Cup. The weather in Barcelona was surprisingly similar to Dublin – plenty of sun!

The event kicked off with a captains’ meeting in the grandiose board room of the Real Club de Polo where the draw was made. There were 7 nations entered and Spain had two teams to make it an 8 team draw. The meeting was followed by a drinks reception.

On Friday morning, we made our way to the second host tennis club, the Real Club de Tennis 1899 and took on the mighty Germans. The format for the event was 2 singles matches followed by a doubles match. We lost 3-0 but it is worth mentioning that the doubles was a close 3 set match and that one of the German opposition was non other than Steffi Graf’s former doubles partner. Dinner that night for all teams (men and ladies) was generously hosted in the Real Club de Tennis 1899.

On Saturday morning, we played Spain B. The matches were very competitive but unfortunately we lost 2-0. The dinner that night was lavishly hosted in the Polo Club and we shared a table with team GB who were missing the Irish men’s team!

On Sunday morning, despite the dreadful weather forecast of torrential rain, we played again. This time our opponents were Belgium. Again lack of practice on red clay and general tiredness prevailing, resulted in a defeat.

All in all, it was an amazing experience to play Potter Cup and enjoy the fantastic facilities and atmosphere of both the Polo and Real clubs. We managed to enjoy some tapas, a glass of vino , a trip to the shops not to forget a swim in the sea. It was a super trip.