The Team Channel presents the paddle in the spotlight… but not necessarily in the best way. After already heated debates on the set around the issue "Is padel a sport?", it's this time France Pierron who rekindled the controversy with a sentence that risks making some people in the padel community grind their teeth.

Yet appreciated, including among members of Padel Magazine, the journalist made a small dig during an exchange with Arthur Rinderknech, finalist of the last Masters 1000 in Shanghai, present on the stage.

France Pierron: “For or against padelmania, Arthur? There's a hype around padel, and it's getting a bit annoying for us. What do you think?”

Arthur Rinderknech :

“I've played three times in my life, so I can't really say. I haven't had time to develop that joy of padel yet. When I played the next day, I hadn't played tennis anymore. So for now, I'm taking it easy.”

A detached tone, but which shows once again that padel divides, including in the traditional sports media. If the “hype” of padel seems to “inflate” some, it nevertheless continues to attract every week new practitioners, clubs and events throughout France.

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.