From Bela to World Seniors: when talent and ranking have no age

The FIP Seniors World Padel Championships, taking place these days in La Nucía (Alicante), show a truth that has been said many times by the president of the International Padel Federation, Luigi Carraro. “Talent has no age. And you – said Carraro to the players in La Nucía – are the ones who have made padel great: thanks to you, padel has become one of the most important sports in the world”. Although the new generations are advancing, the ‘veterans’ prove that they can be still competitive. This is also reflected in the FIP ranking, with two Top 10 and, more generally, four Top 100 players already over 40: in Brussels, in the next round of the Premier Padel circuit, Fernando Belasteguin (number 9, but for 16 years number 1) will begin his partnership with Juan Tello, while Sanyo Gutierrez (10), who is currently in La Nucía to enjoy the FIP Seniors World Padel Championships, will play with another Argentine, Maxi Sanchez, who is 37 years old. Agustin Gomez Silingo is number 32 in the FIP ranking and, these days, is trying to lead Argentina to a world title only just missed two years ago in Las Vegas; 57 years old, on the other hand, is another legend, Miguel Lamperti, who continues to delight fans around the world.

Talent has no age and no gender: this is also proved by Lucia Sainz, who in a few weeks will be 40 years old and who is number 15 in the FIP ranking (but has also been number 1) and in the last three Premier Padel tournaments (Doha, Acapulco and Puerto Cabello) has reached the quarterfinals, as did the Portuguese Ana Catarina Nogueira, who was born in 1978 and reached the quarterfinals of the GNP Mexico P1 in Acapulco, as in Milan P1 did Italy’s Emily Stellato, world number 63 and eight places ahead in the FIP ranking of Lorena Alonso De Lera, who in the last three CUPRA FIP Tour tournaments played has collected one victory (Rocks Lane, London), one final (Cairo) and one semi-final (Nola).

And not only is talent ageless, but talent is also available to other talent. In La Nucía, these days, padel legends are playing, but for some of them is the second half of their careers as coaches of the world’s strongest players: from Rodrigo Ovide (who from next week will be on the bench of Juan Lebron and Paquito Navarro and is already working alongside Gemma Triay and Claudia Fernandez) to Gabriel Reca (who will follow, among others, the pair formed by Momo Gonzalez and Alex Ruiz, also already seen in previous years on the circuit), to Fernando Poggi, coach of Inigo Jofre and Luis Hernandez Quesada. Also playing at the FIP Seniors World Padel Championships is Nito Brea, father of Delfina, number 5 in the women’s FIP ranking. Because with talent grows talent.