As the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 reaches its climax, Premier Padel has held the first-ever “Legends” tournament at the spectacular Waldorf Astoria hotel in Lusail.
A glittering line-up of competitors included former professional footballers such as the Brazilians Ronaldo and Kaka, the Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas, and ex-England captain John Terry. Together with local professional padel players, they paired up to play in a captivating 40 player knock-out tournament.
The line-up of superstars from yesteryear was unprecedented, showing the pulling power of padel. Ronaldo – the Brazilian who won the World Cup twice and FIFA World Player of the Year three times – was present, as were former Italian international Francisco Totti, the Manchester United player Diego Forlan, Gabriel Batistuta, Patrick Kluivert, Clarence Seedorf, and many others – too many to mention.
The notoriety of the spectators off-the-court almost matched the players on-court, with on-lookers including former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, the Brazilian star Kaka, and English FA Ambassador and former Arsenal Vice-Chairman David Dein.
The tournament climaxed with the final between France World Cup winner Vincent Candela and partner Khaled Saldoon beating Italian World Cup winner Marco Materazzi and partner Mohammed Abdullah in a gripping 7-5 tie-break final.
Padel is widely regarded as the world’s fastest-growing sport, with Premier Padel proving this year that they are key to that growth by launching an eye-catching international FIP event circuit including a number of ‘Majors’ which are equivalent to grand slams in tennis.
Padel has been a notable feature of the FIFA World Cup 2022 as courts are plentiful in this padel-crazed nation, and footballers, celebrities and fans have been flocking to these facilities in their downtime.
