Egypt Becomes First Ever Arab Champion in Padel Tennis

Egypt wins first ever Arab Championship in Padel Tennis. Photo credit: Arab Padel Federation

Egypt has won the first ever Arab Championship in Padel tennis. Beating runners up Kuwait in two straight matches, they secured the gold medal and the first ever trophy of the newly instated tournament.

 

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Held in Dubai, the tournament took place between 27 September and 1 October 2023, and along with the hosts — the United Arab Emirates — 10 Arab national teams competed for the title: Syria, Sudan, Qatar, Oman, Morocco, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, and Egypt. Qatar was awarded the bronze medal.

The final between Egypt and Kuwait consisted of a best two matches out of three, with each of the matches being between two different sets of players from the respective national teams. Winning the first two matches in two straight sets, Egypt secured the title without needing to play a final match decider.

 

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Egypt had already been a projected favourite to win this tournament, as the national team was the highest ranked Arab team, and having already competed in the Padel World Championship.

Despite this glowing record, national team player Omar Tarek tells Egyptian Streets that the team felt a significant amount of pressure going into the tournament, considering the publicity and media attention given to the tournament.

Egypt faced a number of challenging opponents throughout the tournament, even losing against Kuwait on the opening day of the tournament, the very same team they defeated in the final.

“We went in hoping and expecting to win the tournament, then found ourselves losing against Kuwait,” says Tarek. “In our group stage game against Bahrain we would be fighting to even qualify to the next round.”

This initial shock resulted in a push and a burst of energy that empowered the team to ultimately turn around their performance and conquer against the opposing teams.

“In the semi-final and the final, a surprising number of Egyptians actually came to support us,” Tarek recounts. “In the earlier stages of the tournament, most of the spectators were supporters of the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait. But in the end it felt like we were playing at home.”

Padel is a racket sport sharing commonalities with both tennis and squash and is always played in pairs. Over the past few years, it has been gaining rapid popularity in the region, particularly in Egypt and the Gulf nations, both as a competitive sport and a recreational activity.