Stage set for Dubai Padel Masters at NAS Sports Complex

The stage is set for the first-ever professional padel tournament in the region with the World Padel Tour’s (WPT) Dubai Padel Masters that will be held at the Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Sports Complex unitl October 31.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, this is the first time that such a high-profile padel competition from the WPT is being held anywhere outside of Europe.

Khalifa Yousuf Al Khoory, Chairman of the Organising Committee and First Vice President, UAE Padel Association (UAE PA), welcomed the players and officials from the WPT.

Stressing the historical significance of the Dubai Padel Masters, Al Khoory said he hoped the tournament would open global doors for the sport and for the UAE.

“This is a historical event for sport in the UAE and we want to show the world that this is indeed the best sporting destination,” Khalifa Al Khoory noted.

The first Vice President also lauded the efforts of the UAE PA led by Sheikh Saeed Bin Juma Al Maktoum the president.

“We are grateful to Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council. And for us at the UAE PA to organise such a high level of tournament after being established just over one year ago shows the commitment of the leaders to take this sport to the next level,” he said.

Organised by the WPT in close co-ordination with the UAE Padel Association (UAE PA), this competition will witness 104 pairs of the best padel players from across the globe participating for the top honours in next Saturday’s final.

There has been a great demand for this tournament and there have been as many as 21 pairs of players from the UAE competing in the qualifying rounds.

The best four pairs have advanced for a play-off with the four best pairs who through a qualifying round in Madrid in September.

Tournament Director and first Vice President of UAE PA Mohammed Al Mutaiwe’e thanked all the valuable sponsors for coming forward and backing this prestigious tournament in its very first year.

“We extend our gratitude to Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex, Al Tayer Motors Land Rover, Meydan, Emirates NBD, Hills Advertising, Dubai Sports Council, Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, Al Jaber Optical and ME Media,” Al Mutaiwe’e said.

UAE-based Javier Lopez, Mauricio Andrini, Emilio Misas, Pedro Rios, Saeed Al Marri, Hassan Sharif Al Marzouqi, Dirk Jan and Benjamin Cassaigne will join the four best pairs from Madrid, namely Gonzalo Rubio/Aris Patiniotis, Toni Bueno/Luchas Cunha, Raul Diaz/Raul Marcos Duran and Juan Cruz/Ignacio Gonzalez Gadea to decide which four go through to the main draw starting on Sunday evening.

Majid Al Bastaki, Head of Media Committee, was confident the presence of supporters and fans would make this into a successful tournament.

“We have tapped into all the media and publishing outlets and with the range of promotions we are carrying out we can be assured of a truly successful event,” Majid Al Bastaki said.

The Dubai Sports Channel and Abu Dhabi Sports Channel will be facilitating live coverage of the tournament.

“In addition, we will have daily raffle prizes for electronics and house-hold items. And at the end of the competition we will have a raffle draw for two Range Rovers,” he revealed.

After a tough round of qualifying at the Sanset Padel Club in Madrid, Alicia Berl/Patricia Mowbray, Gabriela Bartomioli/Isabel Dominguez, Lilian Ramos/Angela Caro and Andrea Jareno/Tamara Icardo became the four pairs of women who will directly enter the main draw of the competition in Dubai.

The Round of 16 winners advance to the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Ali Sharif Al Marzooqi, Technical Director of the competition, conducted the draws for the final round of qualifiers where the four pairs from Madrid will play against the four pairs from the UAE.

The play-off draw was held in the presence of world number 11 Miguel Lamperti and world number 14 Augustin Gomez Silingo.

Mohammed Abdul Nasser Al Khayat, Meydan Commercial Director, was proud to be part of a national initiative that would raise the level of sports fitness in the country.

“We are more than willing to assist in any such projects that will portray our commitment to the community we serve,” Al Khayat said.

The Masters circuit consists of the best 104 players in the world of Padel – 28 pairs in the men’s competition and 24 in the women’s event.

The WPT calendar consists of 19 tournaments this year, along with five Masters Open and four Challengers.

As per the hierarchy of events, the Masters are the most important tournaments in the professional world of Padel.

The five stops on the Masters Tour for this season will be in Barcelona, Malaga, Monaco, Dubai and Valencia.

The Masters tournaments also have the highest WPT Ranking Points with the men’s winner of each competition getting 1,500 points and the women’s winners bagging 1,000 points.

Competitors accumulate points at each of the Masters tournaments with the aim of qualifying to the season-ending Masters Final to be held in Madrid in the second half of December.

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