Padel Pro Circuit will organize the 1st pro-am padel tournament (professional – amateur) in Morocco on January 25, 26 and 27, 2024 at the Oasis City Ball club. This event, eagerly awaited by the growing padel community in Morocco, will bring together 16 elite teams who will compete for 3 days.
Each team will be made up of a professional Spanish player and a high-level Moroccan player. The matches will be played in Round Robin format: 4 groups of 4 teams will be drawn. At the end of the group matches, a main draw and a secondary draw will be formed, leading the teams to qualify for the final rounds (quarters, semis and finals).
The ambition of the organizers of this tournament is to raise awareness of this sport to make it more popular. It will also allow Moroccan players to associate with Spanish professionals and show their level of play. The level of this tournament will therefore be very high and the exchanges promise to be spectacular.
A large audience of enthusiasts is expected this weekend.
In 2024, Padel Pro Circuit plans to organize large-scale international and local competitions to support the development of this sport.
Padel in a few words
Padel, a racket sport born in Mexico, has won over sports fans around the world.
Padel is a doubles racquet discipline that combines elements of tennis and squash, and is played on a reduced court with glass walls and a lower net.
In recent years it has exploded in popularity, making it the fastest growing racquet sport in the world.
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Athletes still active or retired like David Beckham, Zineddine Zidane, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Sylvain Wiltord and Neymar have all jumped on the padel bandwagon. Even Jürgen Klopp, the German manager of the Liverpool football team, couldn’t resist and had a court installed at the club’s training center.
Where does padel come from?
Padel was born in sunny Acapulco, Mexico, in the late 1960s, thanks to Enrique Corcuera, a man passionate about tennis who did not have the space to build a real court on his property. Determined to play the sport, he came up with the idea of building a smaller court, surrounded by walls to keep the ball in play.
Alfonso de Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a Spanish friend, was instantly captivated by this invention after a few racket hits on this new terrain. He took the initiative to create the first two padel courts in a tennis club in Marbella, Spain, in 1974.
Padel then quickly gained popularity in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries, such as Argentina and Uruguay.
Over the past decade, padel has seen a flourishing expansion globally, with its popularity skyrocketing in several other European countries, including Sweden, France, Italy and, most recently, the United Kingdom. .
What are the rules of padel?
Padel is a doubles game, which is therefore played with four players on a court which is approximately 25% smaller than a tennis court. The discipline partly follows the rules of tennis.
When serving, the ball must bounce off the ground and be hit under the arm, below hip height.
Glass walls are considered in-game elements, allowing players to use them strategically.
After the serve, the ball must bounce once on the receiving side before being returned.
The scores for padel are largely the same as those for tennis. However, in the professional circuit, a “Punto de Oro” can be used when the score is 40-40, to determine the winning of the game more quickly.
Why has padel become one of the fastest growing sports in the world?
One of the main drivers of its rapid growth is its ease of learning. You can play with three other friends, have fun and there are no technical barriers to entry like serving in tennis. With padel, you can immediately enjoy it, even if the levels between the players are not all the same.
The game is compatible with players who are looking for a long-lasting activity, attracting those who are willing to invest the time and effort to truly master the intricacies of the sport.
Another essential catalyst for the expansion of padel lies in the massive membership of famous athletes and former athletes.
2024-01-15 11:19:19
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