Patrick Fouquet, the coach of the France team of padel looks back on the difficulty of selecting the players for the French team of padel. In at least two months, it is the European Championships of padel. The list of those selected has been deposited with the FFT.

Patrick Fouquet explains his course of action and how he validated the 8 female players and 8 men's players.

How did you select this French team from padel 2017?

Make the best possible selection according to certain sporting and human criteria by taking into account the investment and community life in addition to the level. The championship of France 2017 was of excellent quality, I feasted during these 3 days.

Are Nallé Grinda (one of the best French players and lefties living in the USA) and Gaby Reca (Former world number one and still World Padel Tour) could be part of the selection?

To be selectable it was necessary to play at least 2 tournaments of the circuit before the selection, or Nallé Grinda did not make tournaments this year. So, it can not be selectable.

Gaby Reca did not wish to commit this year to these European Championships of padel in Lisbon. We will see how things develop with him next year, even if we all agree that having him in the team would be a great strength.

Robin Haziza and Jérémy Scatena are the former French champions of padel and were the Bergerons / Blanqué du padel French until last year. We see them both select, but not together. Do you think a rollover on a match is plausible?

Everything is plausible during these European Championships of padel. It's true that the best French pair was Scatena / Haziza for a very long time. Now Jérémy Ritz is a very good player and with Jérémy Scatena they get along very well on the pitch. It will be necessary to see on the spot according to the state of forms of each one which will be the most judicious choice. And then the new Haziza / Moreau pair could be the good half-surprise of this championship. For me, Haziza / Moreau could be the pair of the future and be part of the three best French pairs with Scatena / Ritz and Bergeron / Blanqué.

How did you proceed to select the players?

For the selection I wanted to be able to exchange with people of quality and not to appear the god who decides all alone so I especially to exchange with 2 people throughout the year and the championship of France at BIG IV Valenciennes. This helped us to decide for the few places that remained suspended.

We decided on a course of action based on indisputable pairs, and we chose either pairs or individuals based on this different course of action between men and women.

Players are warned as well as those who could pretend decently to a selection.

I did not think that these choices would reach me so emotionally because obliged to say NO to players that I know very well and I know the huge investment all year for that, it was hard. I was player of the France team for 12 years and I know what this goal represents, it touched me personally, but we must make choices for the good of the team and weigh everything thoroughly.

For some observers, Cédric Carité should have been selected. What made the balance tilt?

Cédric Carité like other men players could have been selected. I am thinking of Pier Gauthier or even of Laurent Boulade. But there comes a time when you have to make a choice. And we felt with the team around me that to build a team, it was better to do it with Loïc Le Panse, Maxime Moreau and Jérôme Ferrandez because the combinations with the players seemed clearer to us. I'm not saying we have the science in it. Moreover, nothing prevents to evolve in the future and to adapt the French team for the World Championships. Padel in 2018.

Interview by Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovers the padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since padel is part of his life. You often see him touring France going to cover the major events of padel French.

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