In Tahiti, padel is also becoming known. And at AS Phenix, we have understood this well. Its president, Alain Siu, former president of the Polynesian tennis league, has become an unconditional fan of this sport, to the point of wanting to increase the number of courts in his club to five by the start of the school year in September 2023!

The largest island in French Polynesia, Tahiti, is swapping its paddle boards for padel palas!

"Two years ago," Alain Siu tells us, "I invested in two padel courts. It took off little by little, and we managed to create a real padel community. But we have to admit that over the past year, padel has been changing to become a sport in its own right."

“We hope to welcome Léa Godallier soon”

"In Tahiti, when we talk about paddle, we tend to talk about one of the king sports in Polynesia. And it is necessarily linked to the sea. But we see that mentalities are changing. With the democratization of padel, the many media outlets that talk about it, seeing padel on television, seeing that it affects all continents, it is making this sport enormously popular."

Alain Siu tahiti padel as phoenix

"Cédric Azzoni di Marzio, former Polynesian tennis champion, now based at Dirai Tennis in Geneva, was very important in our evolution in padel. It is thanks to him that we were able to welcome padel players last December. We were able to have Yohann Potron, padel and tennis coach, member of the French senior + padel team, Jean-Thomas Peyroux, coach and former member of the French padel team, and Mélissa Martin, padel coach and French No. 8."

"For two weeks, we had exhibition matches, clinics, training courses, and many discussions on the development of our club. A little disappointment of course because we were hoping to have Léa Godallier who couldn't come. We hope to have her for the inauguration of the three additional courts! And we could even be lucky enough to have Jérémy Scatena here in Tahiti. He's the one who will manage these three new padel courts (editor's note: 100%padel). And suddenly, we will be able to benefit from his experience. »

tahiti padel as phenix
tahiti padel as phenix
tahiti padel as phenix
tahiti padel as phenix
tahiti padel as phenix
tahiti padel as phenix

A sacrificed tennis court

"The very good news is that padel is becoming a major sport in the club. We no longer have a choice, we have to expand. I even had to sacrifice a tennis court. That's why we are going to go from 2 to 5 padel courts from 2023."

“We are going to see how to organize great national events, but also international ones. Because people are discovering this sport. And they love it. I think that in the long term the island will be able to become a great ambassador for this sport. »

"Personally, I remain a big fan of tennis. I continue to play. But it's true that playing padel is also very enjoyable. In fact, my wife and my daughter-in-law are starting to get into padel, something that was less obvious when we were talking about tennis. Padel is capable of appealing to many very different profiles."

tahiti padel as phenix

Padel is getting younger

“I’m 16, I’m a swimmer,” Poemana, the president’s daughter-in-law, tells us. “And now I play regularly, at least once a week. I also do training courses during the holidays. I’m the youngest in my group, but I can see that padel is getting younger and reaching a wider audience. I don’t come from tennis, and frankly, playing a racket sport had never really crossed my mind. But padel is different.”

Today, the idea is to even do a bit of forward competition. A dream would be to play with Léa as a partner, but there is still a long way to go.”

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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