Focus on…Paraguay, one of the nations that made padel history

Premier Padel 2024 comes back to South America and makes a stop in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, one of the South American states where padel has been popular for the longest time. In fact, the Federación Paraguaya de Pádel (FEPARPA), the official governing board of padel in Paraguay, was established 32 years ago, and also in 1992 it was included as a member of the International Padel Federation, becoming one of the first national federations to join the FIP after the founding ones (Spain, Argentina and Uruguay, in July 1991). And it was also in 1992 that Paraguay played the first FIP World Padel Championships of the 13 it has participated in in its history, as well as nine appearances in the FIP Juniors World Padel Championships, including the first edition in La Plata (Argentina) in 2000.

In Paraguay, according to data from the FIP Research & Data Analysis Department, there are an estimated more than 500 clubs and 2000 padel courts, where some 500,000 amateur players, 2800 of which have FEPARPA professional licences. Prior to the Asunción Premier Padel P2, Paraguay hosted the 2018 FIP World Padel Championships, the 2023 FIP Juniors World Padel Championships and three CUPRA FIP Tour tournaments, all in the FIP Rise category. The first, in August 2021 in Asunción, saw the victory of the home pair formed by Jose Benitez and Santiago Castañeyra; in the same year, in the FIP Rise in Ciudad del Este, another Paraguayan victory with Martin Rafael Abud and Diego Gonzalez. Finally, in August 2022, Adrian Perez triumphed in Asunción with Argentine Gonzalo Daniel Frete. This year, however, in the FIP Promotion in Castellón (Spain) there was the victory of another Paraguayan player, Facundo Dehnike, paired with Italian-Argentine Teo Gamondi.

In the men’s FIP ranking, the first ranked player is Adrian Perez (327), with 34 points, the result of two finals played in 2023 (FIP Star Nomos Curitiba and FIP Rise Gravataí); followed by Mariano Agustin Gonzalez (399) and Facundo Dehnike (407). Among women, the only one with a score in the FIP ranking is Arianna Maria Stagni Lailla, number 289. In national competitions, Paraguay reached two third places at the FIP World Padel Championships in 2012 in Mexico and 2014 in Spain, while in last years the men’s youth sector has been giving great results, having finished third at the FIP Juniors World Padel Championships in 2017 in Malaga and 2019 in Castellón, winning the title in 2021 in Mexico and finishing in fourth place last year at home in Asunción.