Premier Padel Pretoria P1 begins in South Africa Premier Padel Pretoria P1 begins as South Africa makes padel history | Sports | NOW in SA
South Africa’s biggest week in padel has arrived as thePremier Padel Pretoria P1officially gets underway today atSunBet Arena at Time Squarein Pretoria. Running fromJuly 26 to August 2, the tournament is the. . .
South Africa’s biggest week in padel has arrived as thePremier Padel Pretoria P1officially gets underway today atSunBet Arena at Time Squarein Pretoria. Running fromJuly 26 to August 2, the tournament is the firstPremier Padelevent to be staged in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. It brings the world’s top-ranked players to Pretoria while giving the country’s leading athletes an opportunity to compete for valuable FIP ranking points on home soil. Ahead of the opening matches,tickets are still available viaTicketmaster. Following last month’s qualifying event,Pretoria Premier Padel P1 wildcard winnersLinge Steenkamp and Zoë Krugerwill lead South Africa’s women’s challenge after securing direct entry into the main draw. They are joined by local men’s pairsRichard Ashforth and Luan Krige,Adam van Harte and Warren Kuhn, andEgmond van Heerden and Jason Blakey-Milner, who also earned places through the domestic qualification pathway. “Hosting the first Premier Padel tournament in South Africa is a huge honour for us, both as players and as a country,” South African playerAdam van Hartetold NOWinSA during the tournament media briefing. “It’s going to be an incredible spectacle for everyone who comes to watch, and it’s another step towards putting South Africa on the world padel map and showing that we belong at this level. ”Another player to watch is15-year-old Basma Ali, the youngest competitor in the tournament and one of South Africa’s brightest emerging padel talents. What to expect this weekToday’s play begins with the qualifying rounds before themain draw starts on Monday evening, July 27. The tournament then progresses through the Round of 16, quarter-finals onJuly31, semi-finals on1 August, before the women’s and men’s finals onAugust 2. Away from the courts, spectators can enjoy a dedicated fan village with interactive activities, food vendors and live entertainment. HostsJonathan Boynton-LeeandLebo Mokoenawill lead the entertainment programme alongside DJ Nick Explicit, tournament mascotMoyàand the Vibe Squad. Finals weekend will also feature performances byDJ Maphorisa,Timo ODV,Chrizz Beatzand theMzansi Youth Choir. Fans unable to attend can watch the main draw live onESPNacross Sub-Saharan Africa fromJuly 27, whileRed Bull TVwill stream the tournament globally fromJuly 31. For more fixtures, results and breaking updates throughout the tournament,visit theNOWinSA SportsDesk. Tankiso KomaneA Tshwane University of Technology journalism graduate, Tankiso Komane has a vast experience in print & broadcast media business and has worked for some of the country’s biggest daily newspapers, including The Sowetan, The Citizen, The Times, and The New Age. Through her varied work as a journalist, notably as a copywriter for SABC1 (On-Air promotions) and as a publicist for Onyx Communications, she has developed an in-depth understanding of the nature of the media business and how to use it for the purpose of exposure. Her expertise in journalism across various disciplines, coupled with a good reputation, has laid the foundation of a new kind "trust in Journalism" as the media ecosystem continues to digitally evolve.