Padel Makes Its Asian Games Debut in Nagoya, Eyes on Olympics

First Asian medals on the line

Padel stepped onto one of the world's biggest multi-sport stages for the first time on Monday, as the XX Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 opened its padel competition at the Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center. Running through October 3, the tournament features 20 men's pairs and 23 women's pairs chasing the first continental titles ever awarded in Asia, with medal matches reserved for men's and women's doubles.

Nations represented in Nagoya include host Japan, Qatar, Iran, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Qatar's Mashari Nawaf and Rashed Nawaf Naif enter as top seeds on the men's side, while Japan's Kotomi Ozawa and Chifumi Sato head the women's draw. The opening elimination rounds ran Sunday and Monday, with the round of 16 scheduled for the afternoon of September 29 and continuing into September 30, ahead of quarter-finals on October 1, semi-finals on October 2, and finals on October 3.

"A closer step to the Olympics"

For the International Padel Federation, the debut is less about a single medal table and more about momentum toward a much bigger prize. "It's confirmation of padel's growth worldwide. It represents a closer step to the Olympics," said IPF official Donatella Del Gaudio, adding that the federation is "working hard to make it happen soon" while stressing patience with the IOC's timeline: "We just need to be patient, diligent and respect the Olympic timeline."

The Asian Games appearance follows padel's recent inclusion at the European Games, the Mediterranean Games and the South American Games — where Paraguay and Argentina split gold medals in Santa Fe just days ago. Federation figures cited around the Nagoya debut put the sport's global reach at roughly 38 million players across 170 countries, with about 85,000 courts worldwide and women making up half of all participants.

Growing pains and growing crowds

Players competing for smaller padel nations described a sport still finding its footing regionally but drawing curious crowds. "Padel in Europe is really big and it has just started here, so we're just glad that they added padel," said the Philippines' Joshea Malazarte, who likened the sport to "more like a chess match" than tennis. Kuwait's Mariam Al-Sarraj pointed to rising local interest at home tournaments: "When I watch tournaments live, from the first rounds, every year is getting more and more full. Now it's almost fully booked, so I feel like people like to watch it."

None of Asia's Olympic-programme heavyweights — the sport's traditional powers remain concentrated in Spain, Argentina and Italy — feature in the Nagoya field, underlining that this week's medals are as much about regional development as elite pedigree. The finals on October 3 will crown the first Asian Games padel champions in history, a marker the IPF hopes to point to when it makes its formal case to Olympic organizers.