Padel festival comes to Pretoria with Premier Padel tournament in SunBet Arena
Padel is considered the fastest growing sport around the world and it will be put in the spotlight locally from this coming weekend with the presentation of the Premier Padel Pretoria tournament at the SunBet Arena in Menlyn.
Padel, a racquet sport that combines elements of tennis and squash, is growing in popularity worldwide.
Padel courts are also mushrooming in South Africa, attracting thousands of players who participate socially or on a more serious level. It has the same scoring system as tennis, but different rules. The rackets are solid (without strings) and perforated and balls are played off the court walls, similar to squash.
In a new-multiyear partnership between Primedia Sport and Premier Padel, the leading official professional padel tour worldwide, governed by the International Padel Federation (FIP), the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour will arrive in South Africa for the first time this coming weekend.
Staged as a P1 tournament, the Pretoria event will see the world’s elite men’s and women’s players playing professionally in one of the world’s most iconic sporting cities for the first time. The Premier Padel Pretoria P1 is set to take place from 26 July to 2 August 2026.
As the fastest growing sport around the world, with over 410 000 amateur players and over 1400 courts in South Africa, the introduction of the Pretoria P1 will serve as a defining chapter in Premier Padel’s global growth story.
The tournament is also supported by the South African Padel Association (SAPA) as part of its wider commitment to the development of padel in South Africa.
Tobie Badenhorst, Vice President of Primedia Sport, emphasized during the recent launch of the tournament that this event is a dramatic progressive development for the sport and for top Padel players in South Africa.
“I think it’s really exciting to see the padel community of South Africa able to stage the Premier Padel Pretoria P1 Tournament in the country. It forms part of the global circuit. It’s basically the formula one of the sport. There are 28 events, which are part of the global schedule, and now South Africa is a part of it,” he explained.
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