THE World Championships have bowed out, the big red curtain is drawn, the end of a week full of emotion in Doha. The final ranking was revealed and the favorites won, without much surprise.
In these 2024 Worlds, the French have somewhat experienced turbulence, disappointments, disillusionment, but also great victories. The day after the end point of this competition, it is time to take stock of the French progress.
An unfortunate draw for the Blues
The players of Pablo Ayma must have been satisfied by seeing the teams they would face in the group match… a little less by seeing their potential opponents in the quarter-finals. Indeed, if there was one team to avoid coming out of the group, it was Italy. The transalpine neighbors had already taken the lead during Euro 2024 against France, which means that the disappointment must have been immense for the Blues.
Some chicken scares
The Blues started these Worlds with a big scare in the group match. Indeed, against Uruguay, the French were one set away from losing the match… and losing first place in the group! Fortunately, Dylan Guichard and Man Vives were able to avoid disaster with two sets in the decisive match.
After this first scare, the Blues kept their concentration during the other two days. Facing Qatar and Chile, the French players were able to raise the bar and were able to gain confidence before the start of the quarter-finals.
Italy was too strong
Against Italy, France did not have the weapons to secure a place in the last four. The first match was particularly complicated for the French delegation. Johan Bergeron and Timéo Fonteny suffered the lightning of Aris Patiniotis / Facundo Dominguez. A first defeat 6/1 6/4 and already a warning for the Blues.
Dylan Guichard et Thomas Leygue had only one goal: to win the decisive match. Despite a bad start against Simone Cremona and Marco Cassetta, the Guichard / Leygue pair managed to get back on track by winning the tie-break of the second round. This was not enough because, ultimately, Dylan Guichard and Thomas Leygue ended up losing.
The disillusionment is terrible for the Blues who, after a third place in Dubai, could only hope for a fifth place… at best !
Mixed ranking matches
Against Brazil, the turmoil continued for the Blues who let victory slip away in the decisive match. However, many believed in the victory of Dylan Guichard and Man Vives after winning the first round… Once again, the disappointment was immense and France could therefore not play for fifth place.
For their last match, France faced a nation whose path she had already crossed during the competition. Indeed, the return of Chile which, this time, greatly disturbed the Blues, close to another defeat. Fortunately, the determination of Johan Bergeron and Timéo Fonteny took precedence over everything else and the French were able to secure 7th place in the tournament.
Cruel disillusionment for French women
Unlike the French players, the Blues were very lucky in the draw. In fact, the players of Robin Haziza were not seeded and for good reason, their 7th place at the last world championships. Helped by their lucky star, the French narrowly avoided Italy, Spain and Argentina. A good omen for trying to finish first in the group !
A faultless one in the group
The French women perfectly seized the opportunity offered to them by achieving an almost perfect run during the group matches. Certainly, they did not take one of the tops nations but we had to be wary of Belgium, the black cat of Les Bleues, or even the Netherlands whose team had many qualities on paper!
Ultimately, the French managed not to lose a single match during the group stage. A very good performance from the French players who were full of confidence before taking on an opponent they knew only too well: Portugal !
The pain after the defeat against Portugal
Les Bleues started the match as favorites against Portugal. For what ? Because they had already beaten the Portuguese twice during Euro 2024. Moreover, the first point went to them by right thanks to a great performance from Jessica Ginier-Barbier et Alix Collombon.
However, the rest did not go as planned with, to start, the defeat in two sets of Lucile Pothier et Charlotte Soubrié. The last chances of a semi-final rested on the shoulders of Lea Godallier et Carla Touly.
The victory of the first round did not allow the two French players to stay on cloud nine. Nogueira's experience, helped by Santos, got the better of the French and delivered Portugal. For France, the story resembles that of Dubai and the sadness is immense.
Difficulty bouncing back
The next day, we had to dry our tears to face Sweden. A particularly difficult task for the Blues who had to remobilize despite pain and frustration. Unfortunately, it seemed that the narrowly missed semi-final could not get out of the heads of the French against the Swedes. New defeat for Robin Haziza's players who would find themselves playing for 7th place.
Facing Brazil, the next day, the Blues managed to get this 7th place, which positions them in the same place as in 2022. Certainly, the disappointment is immense at the end of these Worlds but the Blues remain in 7th place in the world .
Unreached objectives
For both men and women, the objectives of these World Championships were not achieved… Whether for Pablo Ayma and Robin Haziza, the main quest was to get a place in the semi-final… and a bronze medal.
These World Championships will be a necessary learning experience for the Blues. This will allow them to move forward and come back stronger for future editions with, why not, great stories to pick up.
It was her brother who one day told her to accompany him on a padel court, since then, Gwenaëlle has never left the court. Except when it comes to watching the broadcast of Padel Magazine, the World Padel Tour… or the Premier Padel… or the French Championships. In short, she is a fan of this sport.
