The World Padel Summit, which took place over three days this week in Malaga, brought the new and established padel worlds together to celebrate the sport’s remarkable growth.
Leading figures from the sport’s traditional hotbeds joined with those from emerging markets in the US, Asia, Australasia and other parts of Europe where padel’s explosion is rapidly gathering pace. Together, thousands of padelistas networked, learned from one another and basked in the sport’s success.
There were activations, exhibitions, congress sessions, investor forums and, of course, the opportunity to try out equipment from the many brands who had a presence at the event.
A major British contingent made the journey over, including the Don of padel PR, Ben Nichols from Padel 22, who conducted a discussion with leading lights from one of padel’s major growth areas, Asia: Davy Sanh (POP Padel), Carlos Carrillo Giménez (Asia Pacific Padel Tour), Nikhil Sachdev (PadelPark) and Pablo Castells (Indo Padel).
On day two, Ben hosted a session on emerging markets with Padel Haus’ Santiago Gomez, Ace Padel’s Elliot Carnello, Toni Salord Monserrat of Padellines and the face of Philippines padel, Alenna Dawn.
Sarah Horrocks and Patty Camps from the R3 stable joined Femme Open’s Pepita Stonor (an Aussie, but we’ve adopted her!) on stage for a session on female entrepreneurship in padel and the need for more women to join the industry in leadership roles.
Rocks Lane founder Chris Warren also represented GB to promote the European Padel League (EPL) which has its season one climax in Chiswick on 4-7 July.
On court, the legend Mauri Andrini led a coaching session, there was an incredible court activation from the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, the Hexagon Cup Show on Portico Sport Court and Pro Padel League exhibition.
One eagerly-awaited feature of the event was the launch of the PLAYTOMIC Global Padel Report 2024… more of which next week here on The Padel Paper.
For the many investors who descended on Malaga, there was a packed out Investor Forum session titled ‘The land of padel dreams and opportunities’ featuring Santiago Gomez, the Godfather of American Padel, Marcos Del Pilar, and EEP Capital Co-Founder, Christ Ishoo.
Staying with US visitors, Taktika Padel CEO Ryan Redondo led an all-star panel alongside Rocket Padel’s Jesper Hougaard and Jack Sobala of Interpadel Polska to discuss how to build a chain of padel clubs.
In an historic moment, Hexagon Cup’s Sergio Lewin, Premier Padel’s Rob Mitchell and Pro Padel League’s Marcos Del Pilar shared the stage – the first time all three rival tours had been under one roof!
We’ll have more news and reaction from the inaugural World Padel Summit on The Padel Paper next week…
