Dubai: The oldest and the youngest have been creating ripples in the padel competition at the ongoing Fifth Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Ramadan Sports Tournament.
Hamdan Al Janahi, who turns 12 in August, has teamed up with 37-year-old Khalid Al Attiyah — the oldest in this competition — to enter the quarter-finals of the padel for UAE Nationals. Their latest victory was a 6-3, 6-2 result against Saud Abdullah Zainal and Saud Abdul Aziz Al Arif that saw them ease into the quarter-finals of the competition.
Hamdan hails from the Al Janahi family which has over the years been a steady supplier of tennis players into the UAE national team. And like any kid his age, Al Janahi loves football. But some three years back, he started swimming as a full-time activity besides attending tennis practice with his cousins Fahad, Mohammad and Abdul Rahman Al Janahi — all UAE national team members.
However, his interest in padel was piqued during the World Padel Tour (WPT) Masters held in Dubai in October 2015. With Al Attiyah as his guide, Al Janahi started padel practices seriously from early 2016 and has not stopped since then.
“Over a short period of time, I have come to love padel a little bit more than other sports activities that I have done so far. For sure, from now it is going to be padel,” Al Janahi told Gulf News.
“I will be 12 years old this year and perhaps a bit too late to make a serious start in sport. But I am willing to put in the hard work and make up for lost time. In Khalid I have everything a student can ask for. He is clever, sharp, smart and a few tricks up his sleeve that he is ever willing to show me,” he added.
Al Attiyah and Al Janahi will next play Omar Sharif Al Marzouqi and Shaikh Saeed Bin Hasher Al Maktoum in the quarter-finals, and a win against the experienced pair will see them advance to the semi-finals against Mohammad Al Janahi and Mohammad Al Mansouri.
