GOTOPADEL – For several months we have been talking about Padel in France, its events, tournaments, etc.. You have asked us to do more by offering coverage outside of France …
Let’s go to Portugal and its capital. A place which just hosted the WPT Lisbon and where Portuguese had the chance to see a final between the numbers 1 and 2 in the world on Sunday, October 13th, 2013.
But, go back to the club of Alcantara. Jacques Darmon our reporter could see this club by himself, located under the most famous of all Portuguese bridges: » The 25th April bridge ».
The first thing that surprises is the location of the padel courts relative to the bridge. A gigantically high bridge.
The courtyard is also impressive and you can play without any height problems.
Jacques Darmon says:
I spent a week in Lisbon and I found this club on the Tagus , in the rather trendy district of Alcantara , under the immense suspended « 25th April Bridge » . This is the Padel club of Alcantara .
I met Joao the manager who invited me to the « surprise-tournament » which takes place every Thursday in the summer . Arriving at 10pm, I was the 12th person to appear . No surprise about the late hour , as in Portugal , playing at 10pm is a common time .
Joao formed 6 pairs of players and organized immediately the weekly internal club tournament . The matches were played in one winning set. Better be quick in the game.
But , I teamed up with Pedro, a player of the club for a year and we did a good job. We got along well and had lot of fun. What else should you ask for ?
Unfortunately, after three exhausting sets, we lost in semi-finals ….
The evening ended at 1am. Warm and friendly atmosphere , great people and an ideal setting , with a very nice weather. I would have stayed another week , just to play more with the yellow ball , but all good things come to an end …
A big thank you to Joao for his kindness …
I will come back.
[googlemap width= »false » height= »400″ latitude= »0″ longitude= »0″ address= » Praça das Docas, Doca de Santo Amaro,Alcântara, 1300 Alcântara, Lisboa, Portugal » zoom= »3″ border= »yes » type= »ROADMAP »]
Franck Binisti – Padel Magazine / GOTOPADEL
