At the heart of the action all weekend, Mario Cordero, official commentator of Padel Magazine, comes back for you on the Interclubs 2024. If you've been sleeping all weekend, this is where it's at!
2024: a great vintage
“I would first like to take my hat off to Padel Horizon and the FFT who masterfully organized the competition. There was a village right next to the grounds, it's simply one of the first times I've seen that for a French tournament. We were treated to a crazy atmosphere, with lots of people around the pitches, great matches.”
His opinion on the foreigners controversy
“The investment of the foreign players was impeccable: they gave everything, we saw them cheering like crazy on the benches. This competition is really unique, it creates real groups with people who are very happy to come together for these team matches.”
Her tops
“The Occitanie region which finished in the first two places for girls and in second and third place for boys.”
“Teo Zapata, who wins the Interclubs for the third time.”
“The Sète team which defied the predictions by reaching the final for the first time and bringing a breath of fresh air to these French Championships”.
“Aranzazu Osoro and Andrea Ustero who dazzled everyone with their level, but also with their simplicity.”
His flops
“My favorite region, Auvergne Rhône Alpes, which loses its two titles and which loses two teams in Nationale 1 for boys (PadelShot Saint-Étienne and All In Lyon).”
“The Big Padel, which saw its men's team 2 and its women's team relegated and which finished off the podium among the men with its team 1 (4th). A first for this club which finished in second place in 2022 and third in 2023. On the other hand, we will highlight the big investment of the players who will have created a crazy atmosphere throughout the weekend, and who, we will not I have no doubt, they will come back stronger in 2025!”
His favorites
“Loïc Le Panse, who comes from Toulouse Padel Club in Sète and which wins all its matches except the last. Injured, he still held his place in the final and delivered a great performance despite the defeat.”
“Manon Marcarie and Cassandra Senjean, who in one year have progressed enormously and displayed a warrior mindset on the track: they will have fought on all points during these Interclubs.”
“The women's team PadelShot Caen, who will have lost some very close battles again this year, but who deserves to make a final in some time.”
The match of the weekend
“The first round match between Jérémy Garcia / Damien Bayard (PadelShot Caen) and Bastien Blanqué / Dylan Guichard (Toulouse Padel Club). A completely crazy match won 6/2 6/7 7/6 by the Toulouse pair, who after having three match points in the second set, found themselves trailing 5/1 then 6/4 in the tie-break of the deciding set! Hats off to Garcia and Bayard, who fought a very big battle and almost beat two players from the French Top 5. They perhaps did not recover from it, they who later lost the maintenance match…”
A few points of regulation to review?
“In my opinion, the number 1 pairs should systematically face each other in the first match of the confrontation and the other two matches should be drawn randomly.” (Editor's note: we remember that in the first round, the draw resulted in Pablo Lijo and Antonio Luque of All In Padel Sports were unable to play since their team had lost the first two games).
“Why not make two groups of four with the eight losers from the first round for the boys. This would ensure that the meetings are played out until the end, and avoid confrontations without stakes. We should also do the same thing for the girls, with a pool of four as a result.” (Editor's note: there were half as many girls' teams at the start of the competition).
Xan is a fan of padel. But also of rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel players, he finds atypical posts or deals with current topics. He also gives you some advice to develop your physique for padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the padel court!