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at the Marbella Club. Hohenlohe’s love of padel ultimately led to its rise in popularity, and he served as the main driving force behind making it an internationally recognised sport. Throughout the eighties and nineties, it continued to grow at a rapid pace, and the introduction of transparent walls meant that spectators, commentators and cameras could view the whole courts. The first international tournament was the Corcuera Cup, which took place in Mexico in 1991. This was followed by the first World Championship in Spain the
next year. In 1991, the International Paddle Federation was formed and, in 1993, the Sports Council of Spain officially recognised it as a sport. The council decided to change its spelling to ‘padel’ for pronunciation purposes in the Spanish language. In 2005, the first professional world tour, Padel Pro Tour, was created, which was renamed as the World Padel Tour in 2013. Padel is currently the fastest- growing sport in the world with over 25 million active players across 110 countries, attracting top players and expanding its international fanbase.
Spain has more than 20,000 padel courts, with an estimated six million active players. It’s currently the country’s second most popular sport behind football and has become increasingly popular in Mexico, Italy, Argentina and the US. Premier Padel is the leading official pro padel tour, founded by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) with the International Padel Federation (FIP) and Professional Padel Association. Padel is also one of the fastest- growing sports in Britain. The British Paddle Association was formed in 1992. Recent figures
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