Dubai: Summer is on its way out and the sporting season is about to get busy in the UAE. One sport though, has held its own despite the searing heat and its popularity has not waned even a bit during these summer months. The response of padel tennis enthusiasts is to be seen to be believed as they throng the courts at the Emirates Golf Club (EGC).
But come October, things will get more serious as various tournaments get underway in cooler climes. The tournaments as per categories will be hosted in a series of three tournaments on Fridays based on the level of skill starting October10.
Ana Lopez, general manager of Real Racquet Academy which runs the padel tennis activities at EGC told XPRESS: “We launched this series of tournaments last year and it turned out to be a success as the majority of our players like competitive matches and to be ranked either with this type of competitive tournaments or with an in-house raking system. It will be a full-day event aimed at all ages and genders and for those that enjoy action and have already played padel before.”
There will also be a ladies tournament, the first padel tournament to be hosted in the UAE exclusively for ladies. It will be held on November 7 and all levels are eligible to play in the knock-out tournament.
“We are excited about it as the number of female players is increasing tremendously and their competitiveness too. Surprisingly the majority of our female players don’t come from any racquet sport background and yet they commit to padel for different reasons, but commonly for its social grip, fitness, outdoor activity and because it is easy to improve and become competitive,” Ana added.
A mixed couples’ tournament will also be held on November 21 and will again be the first of its kind to be hosted in UAE. “This event is aimed at having husbands & wives getting together for some fun, easy-going play that is more social and fun than competitive. There are plenty of couples at the padel club who play separate matches as their levels of skill are different. Yet, they might want to play together, but don’t find other couples to balance the game. This tournament is the ideal activity to meet other couples to have friendly mixed couples games,” Ana said.
There will be a maximum of 16 pairs per tournament and the registration per player for all tournaments is Dh85 with matches being held on Fridays from 8am to 10pm.
