Spain defends Potter Cup Title

The IC Spain team led by David de Miguel and captained by Miguel Mir successfully defended the Potter Cup (XX Championship of Catalonia and Veterans XI GP Generalitat of Catalonia) title last weekend. The 41st edition of the annual tournament for teams representing International Clubs was once again staged at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona and attracted a quality field of high performance veteran players.

The final saw the hosts claim a 4-1 victory over the United States that enabled them join France as the only nations ever to win three titles in a row on two separate occasions. Spain has now won all but three of the editions of the tournament disputed since 2002.

The route to victory saw Spain beat Great Britain 5-0 in their opening tie before overcoming Italy 4-1 in the semifinals, a tie which included a number of three-set battles. The United States also enjoyed an easy first round win, posting a 7-0 win over Belgium, but was made to work in the semifinals, eventually overcoming France 4-3 in a deciding doubles match.

This edition of the Potter Cup saw IC teams from eight nations taking part. Some of those, including the USA, Great Britain, France and Spain, have been involved in the competition since its inception 41 years ago. Also present at the 2013 edition were IC teams from Ireland, Belgium, Germany and Italy.

Many of the players to take part are regulars of the ITF Seniors Circuit and will return to Barcelona later this month to participate in the ITF event at the same venue. The victorious Spanish team was comprised of David de Miguel, Javier Sanchez-Vicario, Carlos Costa, Joseph Blasi, Santi Tintoré, Francisco Castella, Francisco Garcia, Michael Puigdevall, Eduardo Osta, Fernando Luna and Miguel Mir (captain).