IC Spain Champions of the Abdesselam Trophy

Madrid, July 2023

During the 5th and 9th of July, our veteran teams +50 and +60 were crowned champions of the Robert Abdesselam Trophy Tournament held at the facilities of the Club de Tenis Chamartín in Madrid, under excellent hospitality and organization.

The competition, organized this time by IC Spain, pays tribute to the figure of Robert Abdesselam, junior champion of France, vice president of the French Tennis Federation and the International Federation, as well as a member of the Davis Cup team. Additionally, he was a founder of NATO, served as a volunteer during World War II, and created the Robert Abdesselam Foundation to support French tennis and promote competition for retired players from the professional circuit.

The competition format is a "round-robin" in doubles mode: 1 women's doubles, 1 men's doubles, and 2 mixed doubles (50/55 and 55/60). Each match won earns one point, so the winning team is the one with the most points after the three days of competition.

For this edition, the IC Spain team was formed by Rosa Bielsa, Carmen Chillida, Carmen Mendaro, Ángel Arbelo, Juan Avendaño, Javier Linares (Captain-player), and Javier Molina, who competed against the International IC teams of Belgium, France, and the invited IC team for this occasion, Norway. Spain emerged victorious in a hard-fought final against France.

The awards ceremony was attended by Nicolás Ramos (President of Club de Tenis Chamartín), Javier Linares (Sports Vice President of CTCH, Captain, and IC Spain executive), and Chema Iñigo (Sports Director of the club and competition supervisor).

It was a heartfelt tournament where, once again, we enjoyed good tennis among friends and had the additional privilege, through the Higher Sports Council (Consejo Superior de Deportes), of witnessing the presentation of the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit to Spanish tennis player Garbiñe Muguruza.

2021 Potter Cup/Two Presidents' Cup - Latest

The 48th edition of the Potter Cup, the International Club’s premier team event for senior players, is taking place on the clay courts of two of Barcelona’s most prestigious clubs, Real Club de Polo and Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899 from October 21^st to October 24^th, 2021.

A total of 15 national IC teams — 8 men’s and 7 ladies’ — are in action. At the Potter Cup’s traditional home, the RC Polo, the men’s tournament once again sees a strong line-up, with teams from IC Belgium, IC France, IC Germany, IC Great Britain, IC Italy, and IC USA alongside defending champions IC Ireland, and the host team, IC Spain.

IC Spain has named a 9-man team, led by Jordi Mas and captained by Santiago Tintoré as they attempt to recapture the title for the first time since 2013. The IC Ireland, defending champion, has signed up with a team led by Ross Niland and also featuring Scott Barron, Stewart Doyle, Tom Hamilton, Alan Donnelly and David King.

The ladies’ competition looks to build on the success of the 2018 inaugural event and will see seven teams in action at the RCT Barcelona-1899, before moving to the RC Polo for the finals.

In the ladies’ event, defending champions IC Spain will be fancied to retain the title, with 2019 team members Eva Bes, Gisela Riera and Neus Avila named to the squad alongside newcomer Cristina Fontelles. They will face tough competition and will face the IC Germany, counting with ITF world’s nº 1 +40 player Manon Kruse.The remaining teams due to take part in what promises to be the most competitive ladies’ event are IC Belgium, IC France, IC Ireland, IC Great Britain and. 

The tournament also staged its now traditional tennis clinic for players with intellectual disabilities from the ACELL Foundation, who played alongside Potter Cup participants during the popular on-court session (see images below).

In addition to the two hosting clubs, the Potter Cup is supported by the Federació Catalana de Tennis, the IC Council, the Ajuntament de Barcelona, the Consell Català de l’Esport and the Real Federación Española de Tenis.