Uni padel worlds in Malaga: France wins silver and bronze
French padel players are not returning home empty-handed from the first University Padel World Championships. In Malaga, the host city of this premiere in international university sport, several doubles pairs secured notable placements and medals. Nathan Courrin and Louise Bahurel, along with Louise Bahurel and Clara Mansart, shaped France's performance in the decisive phases of the tournament.
Premiere in Malaga with an international field
The first University Padel World Championships mark a milestone for the sport's growing importance in the university environment. In Malaga, national university teams and doubles from various countries competed for titles in mixed, women's and men's events. The field included established padel nations such as Spain, Italy and Switzerland, with Spanish pairs in particular demonstrating their tournament experience in the final stages.
Courrin and Bahurel become mixed doubles vice-world champions
In the mixed doubles, Nathan Courrin and Louise Bahurel led the French contingent as the number one seeds. Their path to the final started confidently: in the semi-final they defeated Spaniards Álvaro Sola and Valeria Atencia, the tournament's third seeds, 6-2, 6-4. That secured the French pair a place in the final and underlined their status as favourites in this category.
Courrin and Bahurel combined pace, precision at the net and tactical variation in the decisive rallies. Against Sola and Atencia they dominated especially in the first set and gave their opponents few chances to get into the match. The second set also remained under their control, even though the Spaniards built pressure at times.
In the final, Courrin and Bahurel faced another Spanish pair. Despite their convincing run through the tournament, the French duo could not take the final step to the title. The defeat in the final nonetheless represented a historic achievement: Courrin and Bahurel became the first university padel vice-world champions and left Malaga with the silver medal.
Silver as proof of strong consistency
For a debut tournament at world championship level, the silver medal in mixed doubles is a respectable result. Courrin and Bahurel showed consistency and composure throughout the event. Their semi-final win against a highly seeded Spanish pair demonstrated that they belonged among the best doubles in the field, both technically and mentally.
Bahurel and Mansart claim bronze in women's doubles
Louise Bahurel was also competing in the women's doubles with Clara Mansart. After a solid tournament run, the French duo were stopped in the semi-final by the big favourites from Spain. Laura Lujan, ranked 44th in the world, and Águeda Pérez, ranked 40th, proved too strong. After a tight first set won by the Spaniards 7-5, they dominated the second set clearly 6-1.
The semi-final exit was not due to a lack of effort, but to the experience of one of the strongest women's doubles in the field. Bahurel and Mansart still had the chance to crown their Malaga campaign with a medal. In the third-place match they faced Italians Francesca Ligotti and Giorgia Rosi, who had entered the tournament as the third seeds.
In that decisive match, the French pair produced their best performance of the tournament. They won 6-4, 7-6 and secured the bronze medal. The second set in particular developed into a hard-fought tie-break duel in which Bahurel and Mansart closed out the key points more clearly.
Courrin and Deknuydt finish the tournament in fifth place
In the men's doubles, Nathan Courrin and Eliot Deknuydt formed France's other key pair. After exiting the main draw in the earlier rounds, both focused on the classification matches and used that phase to improve their tournament ranking significantly. Courrin showed high resilience across multiple competitions.
First, Courrin and Deknuydt beat Swiss pair Till Brunner and Philip Gabriel Orloff in two sets, 6-3, 7-5. They then defeated Thomas Panken and Pieter Hermu 7-5, 6-4. Both matches required concentrated padel over the full distance, with the French pair showing better tactics especially in the decisive phases.
With fifth place, Courrin and Deknuydt closed out the first University Padel World Championships. The result underlines the depth of the French squad: while one pair played for medals, another delivered a stable tournament in the men's competition and secured a respectable final ranking against international opponents.
French tally with three podium-level results
Taken together, the performance in Malaga highlights France's growing competitiveness in university padel. Silver in mixed, bronze in women's doubles and fifth place in the men's event form a coherent overall picture of a team that already competed at a high level in its first world championship appearance. Louise Bahurel was involved in two medals and was one of the defining figures of the tournament.
Spain once again confirmed its dominant role in padel, especially in the mixed finals. Nevertheless, the French showed they can hold their own against top opponents in the decisive phases. The results from Malaga are likely to serve as a reference for future university competitions and further motivate young players in French university programmes.
