Martín Suárez from La Plata arrived in Spain on May 9, 2019. It was spring in Europe, and “Cabezón”, as he is known in the sports environment from La Plata, decided to start a new life in that country.
Former professional paddle tennis player and also a member of several teams in the Platense Amateur League, among which his time at Círculo Cultural Tolosano and ADIP stood out, Suárez experienced an unexpected turn after having passed the 40-year-old barrier.
In Europe he began to stand out for his conditions in paddle tennis and was summoned to participate in some events that sought to promote pickleball.
It is a sport that brings together movements from tennis and paddle tennis. How is it different? In that it is a more aggressive sport, since it is played on a smaller court and with a paddle that has certain special characteristics as part of the airplane wing material in its composition.
After standing out in several competitions once the coronavirus pandemic ended, Martín Suárez made his way in this sport, to the point of earning the recognition of the authorities of the Tennis Federation in Spain, precisely the body that brings together and organizes this new sport in the European country.
A few weeks ago he was chosen as the new coach of the Spanish national team in this discipline and, in contact with the newspaper Hoy, from Europe, the new technical director of the Spanish team recounted his experience.
“I came to this sport by coming from the world of paddle tennis, to which I was linked for more than 30 years in Argentina. Although I already knew the sport since I was in Argentina, I ended up getting to know it in Spain. There was a proposal for a Spanish coach, but I was lucky that they chose me,” said Suárez, who on Thursday won a tournament in this sport in the over 45 category.
Regarding the qualities of this sport, Cabezón, who left very good memories and friendships in the field of La Plata sports, expressed: “We use paddles that look quite similar to ping pong and are made with the same material that is used to make part of airplanes. The court is smaller than the tennis court and has certain characteristics. It is a more aggressive game, because there is a lot of throwing to the body or even the face and that is why it has combinations of tennis, badminton and ping pong movements,” Suárez explained.
“Pickleball belongs to the Tennis Federation and the authorities acknowledged that they bet on me because I came from another racket sport like paddle tennis. I was a professional in another sport and that has an advantage. Luckily the choice was not very difficult for me, but it represents a challenge to ensure that this sport can continue to grow,” commented Cabezón Suárez.
“In November we have a very important competition in England and there we are going to compete against the countries that are powerhouses in this sport in Europe. “We want to move forward from all sides and at some point insert this sport also in La Plata, where there are people like Santiago Castillo, who set up courts for this sport in Hernández,” he concluded.
In this way, the sport of the city of La Plata has a luxury ambassador who became the selector of a new discipline that tends to expand not only in Europe, but also throughout our country, since after the designation Communication channels were opened with the province of Tucumán to install fields in the North of Argentina.
2024-05-12 03:04:37
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