Keralites don't need a second invitation to play sports. This is evident from the noticeable representation of Malayalis in almost every major sport played in the country, be it cricket, football, athletics, badminton, you name it.
Now, Malayali has taken a liking to a relatively new sport called padel. The racquet sport, rapidly gaining global attention, is also being picked up by sports lovers in Kochi. Padel High, the first arena for the game set up in Kerala, inaugurated by Hibi Eden MP at Chilavannur in Kochi in late August, is already pulling in a crowd.
The growing interest in padel has the promoters super excited. "It has been a little over ten days, and the court is already overbooked," said Dirsha Muhammed, one of the promoters of Padel High and Director of Kalliyath Group.
Dirsha believes Malayalis' penchant for sport, in general, coupled with the fact that padel is relatively easy to pick up, is the reason for the sport gaining traction in Kochi. Fellow promoter Afdhel Abdul Wahad, an avid fan of padel, sees immense potential for the sport in Kerala even as it is classified as a premium sport.
The two young businessmen know for sure that padel courts will soon mushroom in the north and south of Kerala as well, just as they have in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, among other major Indian cities. "Mumbai and Delhi have a number of courts, and in Hyderabad too the sport is growing," Dirsha said. It is understood that badminton legend Pullela Gopichand is launching about 10 padel courts in Hyderabad.
Afdhel echoed the views of tennis great Novak Djokovic, who recently said that his sport was "in danger from padel". "There are people who are looking to convert the badminton or tennis courts into padel courts, so we will see the number of courts mushroom real soon in Kerala as well," said Afdhel, the Founder of Indus GO.
Padel's already booming global popularity received a boost last year when Qatar Sports Investments invested big money to acquire the World Padel Tour and rename it Premier Padel.
Afdhel knows that tennis great Andre Agassi is exploring padel leagues worldwide and has made headway in India. Dirsha believes that though the game is still in a nascent stage in the country, padel leagues will be a reality in about 4-5 years. "Kerala could be part of such leagues, too," Dirsha said.
During the inauguration of Padel High, Irishman Alan Healy, who is Padel India's founder and CEO, said he expects the sport to be part of the Olympics by 2032 or 2036. Dirsha and Afdhel think that could motivate youngsters to jump on the bandwagon. "Alan Healy told us something very interesting. Padel is a doubles sport, and he thinks that because Indians do so well in doubles, be it tennis or badminton, we should be able to do well in padel as well," Afdhel said. He believes tennis and badminton players might find switching to padel easier.
Dirsha draws attention to the importance of grassroots, starting from having quality trainers. "There are no padel trainers as such in Kerala, though there are people in Dubai, Delhi and Mumbai. We're planning to bring some of them to train our trainers," Dirsha said. "And like any sport, if we train kids from a young age, they will be able to excel in it," he added.
How does padel work?
In simple terms, padel is a mix between tennis and squash. The sport is played on a court that is one-third the size of a tennis court but with glass enclosures as in squash. Unlike in tennis or squash, padel racquet is stringless and the ball is a low-compression variant of that used in tennis.
While the service is always made underarm, the scoring is similar to tennis. A ball can be played across either before or after it bounces, either on the court or off the glass walls. "Padel is not a power game, it involves a lot of strategy. But to be honest, once you give it a try, you'll get hooked," Afdhel said.