The composition of Portugal was a big surprise at the start of the morning. The Portuguese, French team victorious in the quarter-finals, faced Spain in the semi-final. And then, surprise, the coaches Marcelo Russowsky and Helena Madeiros chose not to line up Sofia Araujo (9th in the world) and Ana Caterina Nogueira (34th in the world).

Was Portugal starting out defeatist?, even before the start of the matches? A legitimate question after the announcement of the team composition. If Spain decided to send the big guns with a Salazar / Gonzalez and Triay / Fernandez pair, Portugal decided to do without its two best players… No Sofia Araujo, nor Ana Caterina Nogueira… It's a shock.

Obviously, the result is even more terrible than expected: 6/1 6/0 in the first match and 6/0 6/1 in the secondSpain therefore easily qualifies for the final, without having to play the last match.

So why did the coaches make this choice? Probably a desire to give a chance to players who had not had much time on the field… or maybe it was a way to avoid any risk of injury to their top players ? The die was perhaps already cast, no need to take reckless risks.

Portugal to play Italy in the third place play-off and will have to reach 200% if he wants to bring home the bronze medal!

Gwenaelle Souyri

It was her brother who one day told her to accompany him to a padel court, since then, Gwenaëlle has never left the court. Except when it comes to going to watch the retransmission of Padel Magazine, World Padel Tour… or Premier Padel…or the French Championships. In short, she is a fan of this sport.

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