The Spanish Championships of padel which have just ended were organized very differently from the French Championships of padel.

Spain opens up to foreigners

This is the first difference: only nationals are admitted to the French Championships of padel. In Spain, the Spaniards of course, but also foreigners with a resident card can participate.

For example, this allows the many Argentines who live on Spanish soil to compete for the World Padel Tour to play this end of year tournament. A particular way of raise the level of competition, with Maxi Sanchez, Miguel Lamperti, Cristian Gutierrez etc.

In France, the padel is not professional so it would concern a lot less people, but we still think of a small handful of male and female players which could benefit from a regulation similar to that of Spain. This would allow them to play a full season with a partner (in France, among the best players, pairs are generally formed at the start of the year with a view to the French Championships) ...

A preliminary phase in France

In France, players start with a departmental phase which takes place over a weekend, qualifying for a regional phase, which takes place another weekend. Finally, the best from each region all meet together a few weeks later for the French championships. A system which makes it possible to represent the regional leagues, and which has the advantage of preserving the players physically.

In Spain, all those who wish can register for the single phase, which takes place over a week and starts with prequalifications. The a little particular classification system fact that real amateurs can meet stars of the World Padel Tour in the first round of preprevia!

The fact that the phase takes place over a week, with two games per day until the start of the final draw, can be very trying. So when Miguel Lamperti and Miguel Yanguas faced Ale Galan and Juan Cruz Belluati, they were at their eighth game in 5 days...

Spain: final stages with great fanfare

The level of development of padel is obviously higher in Spain. Professional sport, it is followed by very many fans. Thus, the final stages of the 2020 Spanish Championships were held at the WiZink Center, the venue where Réal Madrid's basketball team play their home games! Two WPT type tracks were installed there for the occasion. During a pandemic, a very strict health protocol (including temperature measurement at the entrance) allowed the public to come and watch the matches.

At the retransmission level, the Spanish Federation of Padel had seen the big picture, broadcasting many matches of the qualifying phases on his YouTube channel, then leaving the relay to the Movistar + television channel, which provided high quality images, with many zooms and slowdowns. The competition was at the rendezvous with in particular two superb finals.

 

If each country has its small specificities to organize its national championships, we hope that the 2021 French Championships can take place and that with the presence of FFT TV, we will be able to enjoy the show from home, as was the case during these 2020 Spanish Championships!

 

 

Xan is a fan of padel. But also rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel, he unearths atypical posts or deals with topical subjects. It also gives you some tips to develop your physique for the padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the field of padel !