These Belgians are crazy… for padel!
In the early hours of Friday morning, Brussels woke up to a storm of strong winds and intermittent rain that did not let up for the whole weekend. It didn’t matter.
The stands were packed from the first match on Friday and when the showers came down, everyone ran for shelter under the commercial tents, to the bar tent, to the VIP area and even inside the main court which was 80% covered.
Even the professional players themselves were surprised by the passion and enthusiasm shown by the Belgian fans from all corners of the country. And they made up for it with a great show and very good vibes.
The event was located on Place Rogier, a large space in the northern part of the centre of Brussels. Initially all the available space was occupied by commercial tents and sponsors’ exhibitions but unfortunately during the night of Thursday to Friday the gale was unusually strong and blew away most of the tents and stands.
The organisation reacted quickly and managed to set up about half of the planned spaces, which meant that the companies had to redistribute the available space, while some unfortunately could not be present for good.
We were one of the lucky ones and were able to share a simple stand (one third of the planned size) with Adidas Padel Benelux, Red Sport Belgium and Playtomic. There we welcomed new and old customers and friends.
Final photo of the WPT Brussels Exhibition 2019
So the final photo would be that of the success of an event backed by a knowledgeable and passionate public that filled the stands to overflowing throughout the weekend (and the club on Sunday) and by the presence of some fifteen international companies that already remains small as evidenced by the response and results obtained.
Belgium is crying out for an official World Padel Tour tournament with the presence of the best players in the world (at least one Open) and they deserve it.
Padel, the World Padel Tour and Pascal Box are in Belgium to stay. Tot ziens België! À bientôt Belgique!!!