Latest news with #UAEPadelAssociation
Gulf Insider
07-05-2025
- Business
- Gulf Insider
Dubai Premier Padel P1 Sets UAE Record
Dubai Premier Padel P1 is back from November 9th to 16th at Hamdan Sports Complex after an impressive 2024 inaugural that garnered 24,000 spectators. Early bird tickets to the second edition are now on sale. In light of rising public interest and the sport's quick growth, organisers Gallop Global announced the relocation of the tournament from the 5,000-capacity Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium to the Hamdan Sports Complex, which accommodates up to fifteen thousand attendees. With a total area of 24 hectares, it is currently the biggest indoor sports complex in the Middle East, alongside one of the biggest facility will comprise four match courts and two practice courts. Setting a new record for indoor padel capacity in the UAE. The centre court can hold more than 7,000 spectators. With free admission to all other courts for centre court ticket holders, the venue offers an improved experience and is climate-controlled and fan-accessible. Tickets are now available through with general admission starting at AED36. Reiterating the tournament's position on the regional athletic calendar, the prize budget has increased from AED1.96 million to AED1.98 million. Top professionals from around the world are anticipated to be included in the 240-player draw, including current world no.1 womens pair Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria and mens duo Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia. 'The launch of the Dubai Premier Padel P1 in 2024 was a historic milestone for the sport, which has rapidly grown in popularity in the UAE. We eagerly anticipate the second edition coming to the emirate in November, and from the UAEPA we are proud to support the biggest tournament in our country,' said Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Padel Association (UAEPA). Saeed Mohammed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, also commented, 'The return of Dubai Premier Padel P1 underscores the sport's growing prominence in the region and worldwide. We look forward to welcoming even more spectators in what is certain to be a vibrant atmosphere at Hamdan Sports Complex.' The event is the first official padel tournament to be conducted in the Hamdan Sports Complex, which has hosted tournaments for basketball, badminton, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and water polo. Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO of Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), said: 'Hosting major sporting events like Dubai Premier Padel P1 significantly boosts Dubai's economy and supports the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33. The move to a world-class venue will further elevate the experience for athletes and spectators alike.' Ivan Modia, Tournament Director and CEO of Gallop Global, added: 'Padel is a global phenomenon. After a strong first edition and with continued support from our partners and leadership, we are confident of delivering a landmark second edition in the largest padel court ever built in the country.' Founded in 2014, the UAE Padel Association (UAEPA), one of Asia's first federations, governs padel in the UAE. In that same year, padel was officially recognised as an official sport by the General Authority of Sports, which also promised full government backing. Two years later, UAEPA became a member of the International Padel Federation (FIP). Today, there are about 1,000 padel courts in the UAE, which accounts for 30 per cent of all padel courts in Asia and two per cent worldwide. During the week-long championships, padel fans will have access to off-court activities in addition to top-tier events. Also read: Emirates to Launch Dubai to Hangzhou Flights as It Boosts China Flights to 49 Per Week
Hi Dubai
07-05-2025
- Business
- Hi Dubai
Dubai Premier Padel Championship Returns Bigger and Bolder in 2025
Dubai is set to host the Dubai Premier Padel P1 Championship once again, returning from 9 to 16 November 2025 with a larger venue, increased prize pool, and some of the world's top-ranked players—marking a major milestone in the UAE's rise as a global padel hub. After drawing 24,000 spectators in its 2024 debut, the tournament will move to the 15,000-capacity Hamdan Sports Complex, the region's largest indoor sports arena. The venue boasts a 7,000-seat Centre Court—the biggest in UAE padel history—alongside multiple competition and practice courts accessible to fans. Organised by Gallop Global, the event is part of the international Premier Padel tour. Early-bird general admission tickets start from AED36 and are available via Centre Court tickets include access to all other matches. The 2025 edition will feature the sport's biggest stars, including men's World No.1 duo Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia, and women's top-ranked team Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria. The prize pool has increased slightly to €474,500 (AED1.98 million), reinforcing the tournament's elite status. Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Padel Association, called the championship's return a landmark for the sport's continued growth in the country. Saeed Mohammed Hareb of the Dubai Sports Council highlighted the venue upgrade as a testament to Dubai's ambition in global sports. With added entertainment and fan experiences planned, Tournament Director Ivan Modia said the 2025 event reflects the UAE's strong support for padel's development. Now home to around 1,000 padel courts—30% of Asia's total—the UAE is rapidly cementing its place on the global padel map. More information is available at News Source: Emirates News Agency
Campaign ME
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Campaign ME
Mashreq's SMASHREQ TikTok padel game smashes records, connects with Gen Z
Mashreq has revealed details behind the success of its latest SMASHREQ campaign, which was rolled out in the form of an augmented reality (AR) game on TikTok, connecting Mashreq with the padel community. Reportedly, the first-ever padel game on TikTok, SMASHREQ has officially claimed the title of TikTok's top AR sensation, outperforming more than 40 other games released during the last two years. The campaign was launched to raise awareness about of Mashreq's long-standing association with padel and to reinforce the bank's involvement in sport and wellness. In addition to connecting with youth through digital engagement and padel gamification, the brand also aimed to establish relevance, strengthen Mashreq's positioning as a 'premiere padel brand'. Using creative, entertaining content, Mashreq reflected padel as a dynamic, social sport that resonates with both existing followers and new audiences, thus, creating a community and establishing a network of Padel enthusiasts. Mashreq also created a hook advertising film to aggressively promote the trending game. Rollout of the SMASHREQ campaign The game went live on TikTok from 25 March 2025 to leverage from Ramadan's social traffic. The game has already been on the platform for 30 days, as of 25 April 2025, and will remain on the platform for another 30 days. Mashreq has ensured relevance and reach through a programmatic push combined with digital PR. Additionally, through this period, Mashreq had influencers endorsing the game, paid social content to promote the game, and even incentivised the game itself to increase engagement. TikTok also noticed that content creators have organically picked up the game, played it, and promoted it on their channels. The campaign was supported by collaborations with some of the UAE's top padel players who promoted challenges around the game such as goading people on to beat their high scores. Top players from the UAE Padel Association (UAEPA) and the Egyptian Padel Federation (EPF) advocated for the game. Success of the SMASHREQ campaign While most TikTok content garners attention for approximately 70-90 seconds, Mashreq, quite literally, smashed it with a commendable dwell time of 200 seconds, which is a whopping 143 per cent above the norm. 'Players can't get enough. With an average of 2-3 returns for another round, it's clear that SMASHREQ is the game everyone's talking about,' said Suad Merchant, Global Head of Brand, Partnerships, and Corporate Communications at Mashreq. The campaign, which was the brainchild of Mashreq's Manager of Brand and Partnerships, Saba Oomer, witnessed incredible success, highlighted in its performance metrics: UAE brand campaign performance (Within 10 days) Impressions : 10.20 million : 10.20 million Reach : 6.09 million : 6.09 million Views : 9.75 million : 9.75 million Clicks: 278,000 Egypt brand campaign Performance (Within 10 days) Impressions : 15 million : 15 million Reach : 10.36 million : 10.36 million Views : 14.5 million : 14.5 million Clicks: 860,000 If the numbers are anything to go by, SMASHREQ has not only captivated gamers and Gen Z social media scrollers, it has also become something of a cultural phenomenon. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mashreq Egypt المشرق مصر (@mashreqegypt)
Gulf Today
18-03-2025
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Sheikh Saeed crowns winners of NAS Junior Padel Championship
Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Chairman of the UAE Padel Association, crowned the winners of the International Padel Federation (FIP) Junior Championship at the indoor Padel hall of Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex. The competition for juniors was part of the 12th edition of the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament, the largest sporting event of its kind that was launched and sponsored by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council. The Nad Al Sheba Tournament is held annually during the Holy Month of Ramadan at Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex, under the directives of Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, under the slogan 'Limitless Abilities'. Hassan Al Mazrouei, Tournament Director, and Salem Dahmani, Senior Marketing Manager at Dubai Duty Free, were also present during the presentation ceremony. Ahmed Al Hashemi teamed up with Aaron Rubio to win the under-18 final against the pairing of Antonio Palma and Alessandro Perrotta, while the same pair made it a rare double while finishing at the top of the pile in the under-16 competition too with a win against Ramtin Rafiei Borozhni and Ali Taghizadeh Feji. The under-14 title went to Hamdan Al Hashemi and Mario Brocal Aviles following their outright win against Sepehr Mehrbakhsh and Ramtin Rafieibozhni. Yassine triumphs at cycling event: Algerian cyclist Hamza Yassine proved his credentials as he retained his title in the Men's Open 74-km cycling race. The Algerian was unstoppable as he won first place after completing the distance in 1 hour, 33.09 minutes to finish a fraction of a second ahead of Emiratis Abdullah Jassim Al Ali and Ahmed Al Mansouri. In the senior citizens and residents category for men, Great Britain's Simon Cox won first place after completing the 37-km distance in 51:11 minutes. Algerian Khalil Haddad came in second (51:14 mins), while fellow Algerian Noureddine Houchine finished third for the second year in a row with a time of 52:52 minutes. In the People of Determination Road Bicycle Category (C) held over a distance of 18 kms, it was Emirati Abdullah Salem Al Balushi all the way in a time of 25:19 minutes, followed by Emirati Ahmed Mohammed Saif Al Badawi (25:24 mins), while Saudi Arabia's Adi Hamdan Al Sharari came in third in 26:35 minutes. In the People of Determination Handcycle Category (H) category, Omani Sami Al Sulaimi won the top spot with a time of 31:50 minutes, followed by Emirati Saeed Rashid Juma Al Dhaheri (31:50 mins), and Emirati Theban Salem Al Muhairi in third (36:22 mins). In the Blind People of Determination B&T category, Saudi Arabia's Abdullah Al Malawi dominated with a time of 26:34, followed by Emiratis Bader Abdulaziz (33:43) and Ahmed Abdullah Al Shamsi (35:43). Zabeel crash out: Defending champions Zabeel were eliminated from the volleyball competition after a thrilling 3-2 loss to Al Ameed. The match, held at Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex, ended 21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 16-14. Needing to log an outright win, Zabeel fell short towards the end while going down 2-3 against Al Ameed before a packed hall. Despite Zabeel's strong performance, especially from Nathan Thimotee Feral and Iliya Petkovic, Al Ameed rallied back to win the deciding set. Tommaso Stefani led Al Ameed with 16 points and was named match MVP. Al Tadawi 1 topped Group One with a perfect record after a 3-1 win over HFH. Despite dropping the second set, they dominated 25-12, 19-25, 25-22, 25-16. The standout player for the match was Al Tadawi 1's Maksim Sapozhkov with a game high 28 points, assisted by teammate Nikita Zudin's 14 points. Stage set for Wheelchair Basketball Final: Wheelchair basketball fans are anticipating an exciting final on Wednesday evening when Dubai Municipality takes on Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services. After nine days of action at the Dubai Club for Special Needs, the tournament will conclude at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex. The highly-anticipated summit clash will feature Dubai Municipality, who edged past defending champions Dubai Police 29-27 in a thrilling semi-final, against Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, who triumphed 34-26 over Sharjah Police.
Al Etihad
16-03-2025
- Sport
- Al Etihad
Mansoor bin Mohammed attends 12th edition of Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament
17 Mar 2025 00:33 DUBAI (WAM)H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, highlighted the significant strides made by the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament in terms of showcasing competitive excellence and community participation over the course of 12 editions ever since it was launched by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, who continues to sponsor the spirited competition cutting across various sporting disciplines and the participation of professional and amateur stars from across the globe, the annual tournament has made a huge impact on the UAE sporting scene.H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed attended some of the padel and volleyball matches being held as part of the tournament at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex and also watched riders battling it out on the streets of Meydan during the second day of the cycling events.H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed was accompanied by Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, Chairman of the UAE Padel Association; Khalfan Belhoul, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council; Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council; Ismail Al Hashemi, First Vice President of the Asian Padel Federation, Second Vice President of the UAE Padel Association, and Member of the Dubai Sports Council; Nasser Aman Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council; and Hassan Al Mazrouei, Tournament Director.H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed expressed his happiness at the success of yet another edition of the popular tournament. 'The Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament has always challenged itself while introducing fresh and innovative sporting events that are world-class. These competitions have attracted international teams, legends, and stars in various sports. This, in turn, has contributed to raising the level of performance of our athletes by virtue of their close interactions and quest to make a mark alongside elite sportspersons from across the world,' H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed said.'The Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament has also helped spark a renewed interest in sports within our communities while enhancing the participation and involvement of members of all sections of society in various sporting competitions. This reflects in the increase in the number of participants in this tournament each year, with the overall participation figures going past 8,000, be they professionals or amateurs, and male and female athletes. Furthermore, this tournament has provided a beautiful atmosphere for fans and families to join in and enjoy some of the best sporting action during the Holy Month. We are keen to continue organising this tournament and further enhance its sporting and societal dimensions so that Dubai continues to be counted as a top destination for sports and in every other sphere of life,' H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed emphasised.H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed praised the high level of competition witnessed during the tournament as highlighted by the padel tournament featuring international teams alongside the UAE national team, which is currently ranked No.1 in Asia. The volleyball competition, which will bring down the curtains on the ongoing edition on March 20, also has an array of international stars competing for top honours alongside local players this Zabeel Panthers team includes players from Belarusian champions Shakhtyor Soligorsk, while the Al Hilal team comprises of players from top Italian club, Grottazzolina, from the province of Fermo. The Al Ameed team features players from Pallavolo Padova from Padua, Italy, while two Russian teams, namely WVC Dynamo Moscow and Nova Novokuybyishevsk, have some of their top stars turning out for the Al Tadawi 1 and Tadawi 2 teams, respectively.H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed also met with several participating athletes, including people of determination competing in the cycling races. H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed praised the passion for sports, perseverance, and competitive instinct of the athletes while emphasising that the Nad Al Sheba Tournament has extended full support and encouragement for people of determination since its inception, organising special competitions for them and ensuring their participation in diverse sporting disciplines.
