Argentina rewrites history in men’s, Spain triumphs in women’s. Carraro: “You’ve made this tournament great, thank you all for the emotions”

Argentina rewrites history in men’s, Spain triumphs in women’s.

Carraro: “You’ve made this tournament great, thank you all for the emotions”

After the Spanish double in the first two editions in Malaga (2018) and Las Vegas (2022), in La Nucía (Alicante) there are two nations on top of the world in the FIP Seniors World Padel Championships. If the Spanish confirmed their throne in the women’s tournament, in the men’s, Argentina rewrote history. On Cristian Gutierrez’s smash that gave the Albiceleste the decisive point, all the team members rushed onto the court to celebrate Gutierrez and Agustin Gomez Silingo, the protagonists of the match won 6-3 6-7 7-6 over Enric Sanmartí and José Javier Limones. Giving the first points to Argentina, which won the tie 3-2 overall, were Alejandro Novillo and Gabriel Dominguez (double 7-6 over Almazan/Semprun) and the pair formed by Hernan Auguste and Gaby Reca (4-6 6-4 7-5) over Montes/Contreras. Auguste and Reca had already played together from 2007 to 2011, and in 2002 they won the World Championships: they repeated, more than 20 years later.

If Spain was defeated in the men’s final, they had nevertheless been able to celebrate the women’s title in the morning. France, protagonist of a great tournament anyway, had to bow to the Spaniards, who won all five matches without losing a set. On the court, among others, was Iciar Montes (+45), many times world champion in teams and pairs during her big career.

On the final day of the FIP Seniors World Padel Championships, which took place in a great atmosphere on all the courts, the rankings of the team tournaments were also formed and the finals of the Open draw were played, divided by category (+35, +40, +45, +50, +55). On the podium, among the men, went France (fourth place Sweden); among the women, bronze medal for Italy, which beat Netherlands in the final for third place.

Finally, these are the winning pairs of the FIP Seniors World Padel Championships in the Open tournaments, with five titles for France, two each for Spain and Sweden and one for Mexico.

Over 55 men: Francisco Javier Rodriguez/Ricardo Charfole (Spain)

Over 55 women: Helena Dahlstrom/Monica Lundqvist (Sweden)

Over 50 men: Norberto Sager/Marcos Raya (Spain)

Over 50 women: Catherine Lalanne/Alexia Dechaume Balleret (France)

Over 45 men: Octavio Lara/Fabian Mujica (Mexico)

Over 45 women: Peggy Maignen/Emilie Loit (France)

Over 40 men: Per Hjalmarson/Johan Brunstrom (Sweden)

Over 40 women: Julie Pecastaing/Amelie Detriviere (France)

Over 35 men: Maxime Moreau/Adrien Maigret (France)

Over 35 women: Melanie Ros/Charlotte Soubrie (France)

The award ceremony was a concentration of emotions, after an unforgettable week made possible thanks to the contribution of the Spanish Federation (FEP) and that of the Comunitat Valenciana (FCV), the city of La Nucía, the Diputación de Alicante and the Comunitat Valenciana. “When we opened this third edition of the FIP Seniors World Padel Championships, I said and emphasised it: you are the ones who have made padel great – said the president of the International Padel Federation, Luigi Carraro –. After six days full of great emotions, I can only thank you because you have not made this tournament great, you have made it huge, gigantic. You have given us a fantastic, incredible week. See you in two years!”.