Petzschner & Friends - Padel for Charity

On Saturday, 28 January from 3 p.m. onwards, the walls padelBOX for the first time the celebrity charity event "Petzschner & Friends - Padel for Charity" takes place.

From 3 p.m. to approx. 5 p.m., German tennis pro Philipp Petzschner and seven of his celebrity friends will compete against the German national padel team. Among them are Sebastian Kehl from Borussia Dortmund, former professional footballer and Sky presenter Patrick Owomojela, TOP world-ranked tennis player Alexander Zverev, RTL presenter and RTL Spendenmarathon boss Wolfram Kons and one of the craziest tennis professionals in the world: Dustin Brown. Hans Sarpei has not yet confirmed his participation.

After the official match-up of the two teams, journalists and event partners will be able to swing a paddle together with the prominent players.
Of course, all players will be available for interviews and statements.
The proceeds of the event will go to the RTL Foundation and will be received on site by Wolfram Kons.

The event is free of charge for visitors. Visitors can of course support the fundraiser on site.

Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner was born in Bayreuth in 1984 and has been a professional tennis player since 2001. The family man lives in Cologne with his wife and three children. His greatest sporting successes were the victories at Wimbledon and the US Open, alongside his doubles partner Jürgen Melzer. In Wimbledon, this was the first victory by a male German tennis player since Michael Stich's victory in the men's doubles in 1992. Because of his playing style, which is somewhere between genius and madness, his tour colleagues gave him the nickname Picasso. His highest world rankings were number 9 in doubles and number 35 in singles. Besides tennis, padel is his great passion. He got to know this fascinating sport during a tournament participation in Spain in 2011. What Philipp Petzschner did not know at that time: that he played this first padel match against Fernando Belasteguin - the world's best padel player of all time and number 1 in this sport for over 15 years. As a doubles specialist, Philipp Petzschner was immediately infected by the padel virus.
http://www.philipp-petzschner.de/

On the history of padel:
Padel is played exclusively in doubles. Padel originated in Mexico. There are now over twelve thousand padel facilities in Spain with almost five million padel players. Worldwide, about eleven million people play this sport. There are currently 23 padel facilities in Germany, with the walls padelBOX padel facility in Cologne currently being the largest padel facility in Germany.

A padel court consists of an artificial turf and an enclosing glass and steel construction. The special thing about padel: the ball is allowed to bounce against these surrounding side and back walls. Even if this sounds complicated at first, it is the other way round - padel is very easy to learn. The game of padel is more dynamic but much slower than tennis. Thanks to the handy padel racket with a short handle, even beginners can quickly master the basic techniques of padel. For padel experts, the attraction is that padel is a three-dimensional game, with tactical finesse and spectacular rallies.

The World Padel Tour, a pro tour modelled on the ATP in tennis, has existed since 2005. So far, due to its historical development, padel is mainly dominated by padel players from Spain, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

Famous international athletes who have discovered paddle sports for themselves:

• - Lionel Messi
• - Carlos Puyol
• - Serena Willilams
• - Christiano Ronaldo
• - Henri Leconte
• - Martina Hingis
• - Maria Sharapova

(More )famous national celebrities who have discovered paddle sports for themselves:

• - Lena Gercke
• - Manuel Neuer
• - Sami Khedira
• - Thomas Tuchel
• - Patrick Helmes

STIFTUNG RTL - WIR HELFEN KINDERN E.V.
The RTL Spendenmarathon has been running since 1996. One year later, the "Stiftung RTL - Wir helfen Kindern e.V." (RTL Foundation - We help children) was founded to bundle the charity activities of the RTL channel and to oversee the allocation of the donations. The aim of the foundation is to sustainably improve the life prospects of needy children and young people in Germany and all over the world. Every donation is forwarded to selected children's aid projects without a cent deduction. The RTL Foundation's general meeting, chaired by Anke Schäferkordt, decides on the selection of aid projects. An independent board of trustees oversees the distribution of the funds. The proud result of 21 years of dedicated work: more than 150 million euros in donations have been collected, supporting well over 100 children's aid projects. The RTL Foundation is supported by many celebrities.