Focus on…Brazil. COBRAPA and Pablo Lima wrote history

Three tournaments in one. The CUPRA FIP Tour makes a stop in Brazil, in Camboriú, in the state of Santa Catarina. The FIP Rise Delta Padel, the FIP Promotion Camboriú and the FIP Promises Camboriú are being played. Padel in Brazil has existed for more than 35 years: the first court was built in 1988 at the Sociedade Harmonia Jaguarão in the city of Jaguarão, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and later in those years another court was installed in Livramento. In 1991, other clubs such as Okinawa in Porto Alegre, Sociedade Aliança de Novo Hamburgo and Cepel de Pelotas built courts, with padel gradually spreading throughout Brazil.

A great boost to the movement came from the Confederação Brasileira de Padel (COBRAPA), currently chaired by Eduardo Langer. The federation was founded on 30 July 1994 by the Federação Gaúcha de Padel (the country’s first created in 1992), the Federação de Padel do Rio de Janeiro and the Federação Paulista de Padel, and became a member of the International Padel Federation in the same year. According to estimates by the FIP Research & Data Analysis Department, there are approximately 700,000 amateur players and, in 2023, more than 2,500 registered athletes (of which 250 minors) participated in Brazilian padel championships. After Argentina and Spain, Brazil is the country with the best results in international competitions in history.

In the roll of honour of the FIP World Padel Championships, the South American country has won one silver medal (Mexico 2012) and 6 bronze medals in the women’s category, 2 silver medals (Spain in 2006 and Mexico in 2012) and 10 bronze medals in the men’s category in the team competition. In the pairs tournament, gold medal in 2002 for the Brazilian Neki Berwig paired with Spain’s Iciar Montes and in 2012 for the pair formed by Julio Julianoti and Gervasio Del Bono. The Brazilian ‘cantera’ has also given satisfaction, with Brazil present in the roll of honour of the FIP Juniors World Padel Championships with the historic victory in 2003 at home in Curitiba. Not to be forgotten, finally, is the recent victory of the women’s team in Caracas (Venezuela) and the silver medal for the men’s team in the fifth edition of the Pan-American tournament.

There have been 12 CUPRA FIP Tour tournaments played in Brazil so far. There have been 15 Brazilian winners in FIP circuit tournaments (5 women and 10 men): the pair formed by Fernanda Abarzua and Alessandra Abbud de Barros won four FIP Promotions, while among the men, Joao Pedro Flores lifted four trophies (three FIP Rise and one FIP Star), including three with Stefano Palma Flores and one with Lucas Cunha. But the best player in the history of Brazilian padel was Pablo Lima, ‘El canon de Porto Alegre’, winner in Mendoza and NewGiza in 2022 and for three years world number 1 paired with Fernando Belasteguin.

As many as 186 Brazilian players featured in the FIP 2023 ranking: currently among the top 100 female players are Manuela Schuck (number 65) and Raquel Piltcher (number 76). Three, on the other hand, Brazilians are among the top 30 in FIP male ranking: Lucas Bergamini (21) and Lucas Campagnolo (26) and Pablo Lima himself, who despite retiring from competitive activity still retains the points he earned in the last two years.