As is now the case every time during tournaments of Premier Padel, the International Federation of padel take the opportunity to focus on the host country. Let's see what the FIP has to tell us about Belgium!
The Lotto Brussels Premier P2, whose main draw matches began this Tuesday morning, is the first European stop of the season: the chosen location, evocative and unique of its kind, is one of the renovated warehouses of the former Tour&Taxis industrial site in Brussels, more precisely that of the Gare Maritime, a historic terminal built in the early 1900s for goods arriving from around the world.
Belgium is a country where padel has been developing more and more in recent years: it is in the top 10 in the world in terms of the number of clubs (around 500) and grounds (more than 2) and, according to data from the Research and Analysis Department of the FIP, there are 000 amateur players passionate about this sport. THE padel in Belgium has its own history, because the first Belgian association of padel (today Padel Belgium) was created in 1992 and became a member of the FIP in 1996. In 2000, it competed in its first world championship and, to date, it has participated in eight world events.
In 2023, according to data from Padel Belgium, the membership figures for the federation were very high: 416 clubs, 1 grounds and more than 752 members. In 95, there were more than 000 players in the FIP rankings, including 2023 women (with one in the Top 100 and five in the Top 28) and 100 men (three in the Top 300). With this P73, we are now at four FIP international tournaments played in Belgium (in addition to the WPT events in 300 and 2 obviously).
The most representative Belgian player is Helena Wyckaert, number 101 in the FIP ranking and winner of four FIP Rises, including three with her Belgian partner An-Sophie Mestach, number 152 (two won in Belgium in 2022 and 2023 in Koksijde and one in Rotterdam in the Netherlands in 2023), with whom she received a wild card for the final draw of Lotto Brussels P2.
In the men's category, the first Belgian player in the FIP ranking is none other than Clement Geens (n° 122), winner in 2022 with his compatriot Jerome Peeters (n° 230) of the FIP Rise Koksijde and in 2023 of the FIP Rise Mol, associated this time with Maxime Deloyer (n° 166) with whom he will also participate in the Brussels P2 with a wild card for the main draw.