The world’s newest and fastest growing sport Padel, and growing by the minute with 18 million players around the world, is setting the sport world on fire. Hosting the African Padel Tournament on the Camps Bay Sportsfield will create even more interest in the sport.

In Camps Bay the Padel demand is so large that the historic Rotunda at the Bay Hotel has been transformed into a Padel court. The Camps Bay Retreat has transformed its tennis courses into Padel courts.

Padel will be an Olympic sport played at the 2028 Los Angeles Games for the first time.

Played as a mix of tennis and squash, and first played in Mexico in the ’Sixties, Padel is played by four players on a court smaller than a tennis court, and surrounded by glass walls and mesh fencing. Scoring is similar to that of tennis. The glass walls add an extra bounce of the ball against the surrounding walls.

The APT Padel Tour enjoyed popular support in Europe and in North America and South America, reaching Africa for the first time on Monday, the Cape Town Masters being played in Camps Bay until Sunday this week. A total of 44 teams will compete in the event for a prize money if R2 million.

The first Padel Court in SA was built at Val de Vie in Paarl in 2019. The Glen Sports Club has a Padel Court too. Padel Courts are being built in Constantia, Fish Hoek, Franschhoek, and the V & A  Waterfront. Johannesburg has two paddle courts.

In Camps Bay it costs R500 to rent a court and R200 to rent a racquet.

The APT Masters will not only be a boost in awareness for the Padel sport, but it will be for Camps Bay too, in a week that appears to be blessed with fantastic weather.

 

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whaletalesblog.com www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein, My Cape Town Guide/Mein Kapstadt Guide Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide