Focus on…Kuwait. The P1 Premier after the FIP World Padel Championships Qualifiers
November 11, 2024
From today, and until Sunday 17th November, the 21st and fourth-last event of the season of the Qatar Airways Premier Padel circuit will be played in Kuwait City, before those in Acapulco and Milan, which will precede the Finals in Barcelona. The Middle Eastern country is one of the fastest growing Asian nations in recent years, behind only Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. According to estimates by the FIP Research & Data Analysis Department, there are more than 200 clubs and 580 courts, and amateur players have surpassed the 100,000 mark. Numbers that make Kuwait the first Asian country in terms of population-to-court ratio: one court for every 7,400 inhabitants. The national padel federation, called the Kuwait Padel Club, was established in September 2021 and is affiliated to the FIP.
The Kuwait City P1 is the first Premier Padel event in Kuwait’s history, the second considering all FIP circuits. In November 2023, in fact, a CUPRA FIP Tour tournament was held in Kuwait City, a FIP Rise that saw the victory in both the men’s (with Luque-Gonzalez) and women’s (with Fitó-Portillo) draws of Spanish players. Proving the growing interest in the sport in the country, the Asia-Africa qualifiers of the FIP World Padel Championships 2024 were also held from 22 to 29 September in Kuwait City. As many as 14 men’s and 13 women’s national teams took part in the qualifiers, and although Kuwait, in its first participation, failed to qualify for the final stages, it achieved good rankings with fifth place among the men and sixth place among the women.
In the FIP ranking there are six Kuwaiti players with points in the men’s category, with Abdulaziz Redha as the best ranked (world number 336) and four in the women’s category, with the best ranking being Dalal Al Jazzaf (4 points and number 493).
