Last Sunday, the Tennis Club de Pau organized a day entirely dedicated to padel for the inauguration of its two new courts of padel semi-indoor (outdoor and indoor at the same time). Summary of the day By Erwan Batoz, TCP communications manager.

[src googlemap = ””Width =” 150 ″ height = ”150 ″]

400 curious to hit the ball

More than 400 curious people followed one another throughout this discovery day to test this new sporting discipline in Pau. The two grounds already seemed not to be sufficient.

The day began with a sports breakfast, where the 36 participants in the discovery tournament were able to get to know each other over a coffee followed by a group warm-up in music.

Tournament entries being individual, all teams participating in the tournament were randomly drawn that morning and the players had to improvise with a partner they did not necessarily know. The friendliness was at the rendezvous.

After a reminder of the essential rules of padel, the different teams are faced in matches of 10 minutes in a tie-breack format. A consoling was organized so that each team could meet at least two times.

A beautiful demonstration

Throughout the competition, beginners players could take advantage of the advice of 4 "French tops" (France Padel Pro) came especially for the occasion. Golden coaches in the person of Nicolas Traucard, who took part in the world championships in Brazil and Spain, Kevin Tap, Regional vice champion, Laurent Imbert, winner of the “National Padel Cup ”in 2015 and Bastien Blanqué, eighth with the French team at the Cancun World Championship in 2012.

After 3 hours of friendly competition, it is Christophe Calsives and Valerie Delahay, big winners of the tournament, who are given places for a spa by Eric Saubatte, Sports Assistant for the city of Pau, and Jocelyne Leleu, President of the TC Pau, during my awards ceremony.

All participants were also given a voucher for one hour of padel offered on new installations.

The players, the volunteers of the club and some participants of the Tournament, we ended this beautiful morning with a barbecue where everyone was able to exchange their impressions on the discipline.

An initiation padel for everyone

The afternoon resumed with an animation " padel for all ”, where pro players have introduced many curious to the padel. In total, more than 300 people were able to test the facilities of the Tennis Club de Pau.

At 17 p.m., Eric Saubatte, Jocelyne Leleu, Michelle Dieudonné of the Departmental Tennis Committee and Anne-Marie Minvielle, Vice President of the CBBL league, officially inaugurated the two courts by cutting a ribbon in front of the entire audience. Many local media were present (France 3 Pau, France bleu béarn, South West or the Republic of the Pyrenees) for the occasion.

Following this ceremony where each partner spoke, the officials gave way to pro players for a spectacular exhibition match.

The day ended with an aperitif open to all followed by a musical meal for the volunteers and partner of the Tennis Club de Pau.

Erwan Batoz

Photo credits: Erwan Bartoz / Pau Tennis Club

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.

On the same subject