Aizkoa Iturrino, world champion in Basque pelota, finished 7th in the French interclub championship organized in Strasbourg from February 1st to 3rd with its club: the Central Sport Club. Passed by the tennis and ball, she is now learning padel, with great pleasure.

Aizkoa Iturrino pass from one raquette to another with ease “It’s very recent for me to play padel. During the French interclub championship, our team was made up of tennis friends. We have known each other for a very long time. We were not there in competition mode, but we still managed to achieve good performances,” she assures.

Close encounters

His team finished in 7th place. During the weekend, Aizkoa Iturrino (250th) played with Ainhoa ​​Berecoecha (58th). They played two matcheshs hooked that they lost in three sets salary. Carla Toully (3rd) who is ranked 82nd in the world and Steffi Merah (29th). Then against the pair Kim Barla (20th) / Alexia Dechaume (25e).

All the results of the Interclub N1 2025

Weekend dedicated to whales

After this pleasant team experience, she wants to continue playing paddle but it will be according to his timetable. Between his professional life, sports educator and her sports competitions, she has little time left for padel. Aizkoa Iturrino practice one of the 20 specialties of Basque pelota, called the whale. “I am rarely available on weekends. Soon, I saw that padel tournaments are being organized in Agen or Narbonne. In the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, padel is not yet very developed, especially for women's competitions.”

Four gold medals

Despite its 4 gold medals, one in silver and 5 in bronze, the Biarrote has never lived financially from the whale. And she could not devote her life to a new challenge : “Travel, hotel and tournament fees. You have to have a huge budget to make a living from an individual sport.” The 31-year-old trains every day on average 1:30 am : between physical preparation, training and matches.

Tennis player

If you paddle is brand new, Aizkoa Iturrino, originally from Biarritz, practices tennis since childhood. “I had a very good level and I was at the Pôle espoirs in Biarritz with Léa Godallier, Baptiste Benetoux and Jean Dumartin. Players that we find today on the padel circuit. Then at the age of 15, I suffered a serious injury to my left wrist. I felt pain when I hit a two-handed topspin backhand. In my family, everyone played pelota, that's when I decided to start playing it. The shots were completely different from tennis, I no longer had any pain,” she emphasizes.

With all its international medals in Basque pelota and his promising beginnings in the paddle, Aizkoa Iturrino Will she also be able to bring back titles for the French padel ? Continued in the coming years.

Henri Pasquet

Passionate about football and tennis, I have been playing ping-pong for three years. More recently, I discovered padel and what a thrill! Basketball, rugby, golf and rally: more new sports that I follow regularly. Otherwise on the cultural side, since I love giving my opinion, I write reviews of films and video games.

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