Some of the best padel players from around the Lowveld and the Highveld travelled to Mbombela recently for the inaugural Rockys Padel Tournament.

The tournament was held at Padel 24 at Lowveld Country Club on Saturday and Sunday. More than 100 padel players flocked to the venue for a weekend of scintillating action, and not only from the Lowveld as some players travelled from Gauteng to take part in the competition. This pitted the Lowveld’s top padel players up against some of the best from the Highveld.

As the sun beat down on the competitors they battled out a hotly contested padel tournament with round-robin matches played throughout the day on Saturday. Players were split into a men’s capped division, men’s open division and a ladies’ division.

The tournament boasted an impressive prize pool of R30 000, so there was all and more to play for when it came time for the finals on Sunday. With the heat continuing into the second and final day, players battled each other and the conditions to grab their share of the prize pool.

In the men’s capped division, Ridwaan Sujee and Yusuf Moola ultimately emerged victorious. Father and son duo Yusuf and Suhail Packery claimed second place. Jeanetha Boshof and Marli Gibson claimed the title in the ladies’ division, while Sunel Grote and Berna Claasens were second with Lia Odendaal and Joslin Boshof in third.

The men’s open division had a grand prize of R10 000 for the winning team, and Highveld pairing Hamza Peer and Momsi Mather walked away with the top prize.

Mbombela duo Uwaiz Patel and Sameer Mohammed flew the Lowveld flag high to claim second place. Mbombelan Muhammed Arabi and Middelburger Imraan Karani combined to take third place.