The Indonesian padel team has been crowned as the winner of the first Asia Pacific international padel competition, the Asia Pacific Padel Cup 2024. The competition was held on September 19–22 in Amare Padel Club Umalas, Bali.
The team, which consisted of 14 players, defeated The Philippines in the final with a 3-2 score. Coached by Dani Bressel, they managed to win after going through quite a fierce match.
Other than Indonesia, there are five countries that participated in the competition. They are Malaysia, Singapore, India, and Hong Kong.
Bressel believes this will be a "good start" for the future of padel popularity growth in Indonesia. He further hopes that this achievement will not be the last and the team will continue to advance in other international competitions.
The win at least spotlights the existence of padel sport in the biggest archipelago country itself. Apparently, the sport is still relatively unfamiliar to the public, and its popularity is not evenly distributed.
What is Padel?
Padel is a racket sport invented by Enrique Corcuera in Mexico in 1969. The gameplay is considerably similar to tennis and squash, but the rules are almost identical to the former.
One of the most prominent differences between tennis and padel is that the latter's court has walls on each side. Like squash, the walls bounce the ball as part of a playing technique. In addition to this, padel players have to use stringless bats to hit the ball.
The Start of Padel in Indonesia
The sport was just introduced to Indonesia in 2021 by Toni Montesanti, an Italian entrepreneur and padel enthusiast.
Out of his fondness for the sport, Montesanti founded Jungle Padel, the first padel club in Indonesia, on February 14, 2022. The club and court were set up in Pererenan, Bali.
Surprisingly, the sport received a warm welcome from the community of foreigners in Bali. Montesanti and his team introduced the game and actively built and promoted a strong player community.
As for now, padel has been recognized by the National Sports Committee of Indonesia (KONI) with the establishment of the Official Federation for Padel Sport in Indonesia (PBPI). The federation has even become an official member of the International Padel Federation. There is also the Indonesia Padel Association (PPSI).
Currently, Bali has the most padel courts in Indonesia, with more than 15 courts spread across the southern area. Some courts are also available in Jakarta, and recently, the first court was established in Medan.
Several competitions have already been held as the answer for the sport's enthusiasts, even including padel in the exhibition list of The 2024 Indonesian National Sports Week or Pekan Olahraga Nasional (PON).
Why is Padel Getting a Warm Welcome in Indonesia?
Initially, the sport was almost exclusively played among foreigners; expats or tourists in Bali. As time went by, Montesanti often invited children who passed by the courts to learn and play padel.
According to him, the sport would be easily accepted by Indonesian people who initially have a strong bond with badminton, another racket sport, and his outlook was not fully wrong.
Nowadays, many Indonesian influencers and professional football players also play and promote the sport. One of them is the former coach of the Indonesian National Team, Eric Entrena. He even built his own padel academy in Bali, the Bali Padel Academy.
Unfortunately, this sport is still considered an elite game. In addition to the fact that courts are considered rare, the sports' main equipment is priced fairly high. Based on the author's observations, the cheapest price for a padel racket online starts at 600,000 IDR or around 37.78 USD.
However, this does not dismiss the fact that winning the Asia Pacific Padel Cup could significantly accelerate the sport’s popularity growth in Indonesia.
It is not impossible that more padel courts will be built throughout Indonesia, and various racket choices will be available in affordable price ranges for all groups.
