After Spain, France is the European country where the padel-armchair is the most successful. Respectively No. 1 and 5 in the ranking of tricolor players in wheelchairs, Sébastien Husser-Walter and Tony Boval are two of the architects of this development and regulars in tournaments: those in wheelchairs and sometimes those for able-bodied players, where they impress their opponents. .

Today, Seb the Alsatian (*) and Tony the Northerner (and Alsatian by adoption) cherish a dream: that of seeing the padel in a wheelchair landing in the magical grounds of the Roland-Garros stadium, on the occasion of the next Greenweez Paris Premier Padel Major, next September.

A dazzling development in one year

We asked them what makes the case for the padel- armchair deploys its wheels on the slopes of the Porte d'Auteuil:

"Of padel- armchair at Roland, it would go in line with the dazzling development of this discipline in France, in just over a year, believes Sébastien. The players are present, motivated and the spirit padel is really oriented towards inclusion and sharing. We see it through the attitude of able-bodied players, many of whom are willing to play with us. We also see that the partners are welcoming towards the padel- wheelchair, but also clubs: many structures, including private ones, call me because they want to develop things, set up training and organize tournaments.”

“This is for example much less the case in tennis. The mind padel promotes this inclusion much more easily, as we can see. I myself had the opportunity on several occasions to take part in tournaments in categories P100 and P250, and I have always been well received by my opponents… even those I have beaten (laughs).”

Sebastien Husser and Alexis Maigrat finished 6th in a recent P250

An exhibition during the Human Padel Toulouse Open

“Welcome padel-chair at Roland-Garros would allow France to once again be a pioneer in this area, as it was last year by organizing the first international tournament padel-armchair in Le Mans. It was the first time that a country brought together so many nationalities in this discipline: even in Spain, it had never happened. And next June in Toulouse, there will also be an exhibition of padel-armchair as part of the Human Padel Open, a first in a French event of the World Padel Tour. "

“Bring in the padel-armchair in a place as mythical as Roland-Garros, it would really be a dream. It would be in line with the development of our discipline. I have more and more calls from club leaders who tell me “We want to do a tournament”. Already this year, we will have between 15 and 20 tournaments of padel- wheelchair in France, some coupled with tennis tournaments but more and more 100% padel. These tournaments are homologated as P100 and give rise to the attribution of points according to the same scale as the tournaments for able-bodied players.

Dorian-Navarro-and-Tony-Boval
Dorian Navarro and Tony Boval

Concretely, how would the competition take place?

“The last two days of Roland-Garros, explain Seb and Tony, there are only four semi-finals to play in the pro tournament on Saturday and the two finals on Sunday. Only the center will be occupied by the matches on the last two days, the ancillary pitches will therefore be free. This is why it is really possible to make a wheelchair tournament over two days, with a qualifying day on the side courts for eight or sixteen teams and a day dedicated to the classification matches and the final, which could even be played on the center.”

The future of padel-armchair in France

“For the practice itself, our wish within 5 or 10 years is that there will be more and more practitioners who play regularly. Today, we are 70 wheelchair players in the French ranking. But often it is tennis players who play padel during a wheelchair tennis tournament. And a lot of them don't play padel outside of these competitions.”

“The objective would be for there to be more players in our ranking but also for them to play and train on their side, with the establishment of training structures. We would also need a calendar of competitions that is a little more extensive, with specific events padel. Some already take place over two days, it's better for players who come from afar than to go back and forth for a single day.

“We can also imagine parallel events with a valid tournament on one side – in which wheelchair players can participate – and on the other a wheelchair tournament, imagines Tony. The idea is to mix everyone so that we can see the able-bodied play and they see us play and thus know our discipline.

A World Cup in May in Madrid

“As we are competitors, we would also like to see the development of competition and the high level for wheelchair players, even with an international circuit, why not? And if one day padel- armchair is integrated into the FFT – which we want – this supposes a ministerial delegation which would have several implications: that the federation organizes a circuit, a classification, a national selection, internships, a specific budget, etc. This would allow us to participate in international competitions such as European or world championships if they are set up one day.

Husser-padel-armchair
Boval-Husser-padel-armchair

“Already, a French team made up of three pairs will take part in mid-May this year in the first unofficial World Cup in padel-armchair. This competition will be held at the invitation of Spain, and will bring together players from seven countries in Madrid: Spain, Argentina, France, Costa Rica, Chile, Belgium and the Netherlands – these last two countries forming a single team.”

“We would have liked the FFT to subsidize us for this event, but it is not possible because there were no qualifications to select the teams, regrets Sébastien Husser. It's not an official event, so it can't be considered a “World Cup”. For that, it would also have to be organized by the International Federation of padel. But it will come one day, in any case we hope!

Meet at Casa padel end of August

Another major upcoming event for players of padel-armchair, the second edition of the international tournament born last year at Le Mans.

Padel Armchair Le Mans international 2022
In August 2022 at Le Mans

“It will take place this year at Home Padel, in the Paris region. The objective is to double the number of pairs admitted from 12 to 24. We hope to bring together Spaniards, Dutch, Belgians, British, Italians, Swedes, but also South Americans. The tournament is scheduled from August 30 to 1er September, the week before Roland-Garros. In particular, there will be, on this occasion, an exhibition with Melissa Martin and normally Cyril Hanouna, who agreed to sponsor us; they will play with two wheelchair players. And we would also like there to be wheelchair players and not just players. They are few in number but there are a few. We are also looking for partners to make ends meet for this tournament.”

(*) Sébastien Husser and Tony Boval are members of Union Handisport Wittelsheim, an Alsatian association.

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme falls into the pot of padel in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves pala in hand! Journalist in Alsace, he has no other ambition than to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

On the same subject

Tags