Le  FIP Gold of Belgrade  offers a rather spectacular example of the limitations that the current FIP ​​Tour registration system can produce. By simply adding the points of the two partners, some  pairs very unbalanced in the world rankings  can be found directly in the main table.

The most striking case:  Álvaro Cepero, 52nd in the world, associated with Hami Golestan, 1,116th . Is  1,064 places apart  between the two men.

Even more surprising: with  13,569 cumulative points they constitute the  11th pair out of the 28 initially entered in the main draw .

Everything is perfectly legal. The players are simply using the existing system. But from a sporting perspective, does it warrant any changes?

Cepero contributes 1,163 of the 1,177 points

The situation of  Cepero / Golestan  It perfectly sums up the debate.

Cepero owns  1 163 points Golestan only  14 The Spaniard therefore contributes almost all of  99% of the association's points .

Despite this gap, their total of 1,177 points places them in the  11th out of the 28 pairs directly entered , just a few positions away from the top eight seeds. The latter stop at  Luis Hernández Quesada / Javier Martínez , eighth with 2,442 points.

The question, therefore, is not to contest their presence, which is perfectly in accordance with the rules, but to determine whether  The raw sum of points truly reflects the level of a pair .

FIP Gold Belgrade: 1,064 places separating Cepero and its partner, the points system in question

Several "hybrid pairs" in Belgrade

Cepero / Golestan are not an isolated case.

If, for the purposes of the analysis, we set the threshold of a  "Hybrid pair" with at least 300 places separating the partners Several associations stand out among the 28 pairs initially announced:

  •  Cepero (52nd) / Golestan (1,116th)  :  11nd pair 1,177 points,  1,064 places apart 
  •  Jamshidi (436th) / Roglan Pons (94th)  :  15nd pair 756 points,  342 places apart 
  •  Aragon Herrera (110th) / Shahi (688th)  :  23nd pair 588 points,  578 places apart 
  •  Insa Sotillo (112th) / Aromi Siquier (722nd)  :  25nd pair 578 points,  610 places apart 
  •  Polovina (1,356th) / Garayo Lana (unclassified)  :  28nd pair 10 points, but with a  wild card , therefore in a different situation

The last case must be considered separately since access to the main table requires an invitation. For the others, it's fine.  the accumulation of points  which allows us to determine their position.

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A direct impact on the draw

These discrepancies are not merely theoretical. They can also have an impact on  the balance of the table .

When an association relies heavily on the ranking of a single player, it can become one of the pairs that opponents hope to face in the first round.

The stakes are high: in Belgrade, reaching the round of 16 brings in  14 FIP points , compared to 8 in the first round. A quarter-final is then worth 25 points, a semi-final 50, a final 90 and the title 150.

A favorable draw can therefore quickly unlock important points, while another pair, sometimes much more homogeneous, can immediately inherit a significantly tougher opposition.

Chance will always be part of a picture.  But should the admission method accentuate these differences? 

Why not also take the ranking into account?

One approach could be to complete the addition of points by  a criterion based on the individual ranking of the two partners , at least in the highest categories of the FIP Tour.

It could be a  addition of rankings , a maximum allowed gap to enter directly into the main table or a system combining points and ranking.

This would obviously not prevent  a 52nd in the world to play with a 1,116th Players would remain completely free to choose their partner.

But a pair exhibiting such a gap could be led to  go through the qualifying rounds and earn your place on the track , rather than directly benefiting from points accumulated almost exclusively by one of the two players.

The Cepero/Golestan case is particularly revealing:  1,064 places separate them, 98,8% of their points belong to Cepero, but their total still makes them the 11th pair in the initial group. 

As the level of  FIP Tour  As progress is made, the question deserves to be asked:  Should we continue to add up only the points, or should we better take into account the actual level of the two players who make up each pair? 

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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