On Saturday, June 17th, the semi-finals took place, in which 28 pairs competed for access to the 14 places in the final. Sunday was reserved, in the morning, for the 3rd and 4th place games, starting at 10:00 am, and in the afternoon, from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm, the electrifying finals were played.
"We had a highly disputed final, balanced games, a true atmosphere of joy and spirit of fair play, with a very participative and vibrant public", said Marco Francisco, executive director of Hattrick, a company specialized in sports marketing and responsible for the tournament.
The competition took place in eight fields, two of them with benches for more than 200 people, each, with a total of seven categories, where the men's champions were Jorge Lima and Carlos Sousa, in level 1 (more experienced), Gustavo Lima and Felipe Monteiro at level 2 (high experience), Ricardo Serrano and Felipe Cunha at level 3 (medium-low experience), and the duo Pedro Rodrigues and Filipe Cunha won at level 4 (beginner experience).
In females, Naiara Machado and Amélia Menezes won at level 1 (more experienced), Rosa da Costa and Fabiana Lima at level 2 (average experience), and Arlete Curval and Soraia Lima at level 3 (beginner experience).
"Like last year, Standard Bank's commitment to increasingly encourage the practice of sports was expressed here, as sport is a privileged platform for strengthening social bonds of friendship, in addition to the advantages It is, therefore, a great pleasure to promote this tournament, which we want to continue to be part of the sports calendar", said Carolina Vasconcelos, SBA's Marketing and Brand director.
"In addition to promoting the practice of padel in Angola, which had a huge number of practitioners, we had an incredible audience, always present and very excited, bringing together families and friends in a festive atmosphere", added Carolina Vasconcelos.
The competition was sponsored by Pura, Tigra, Reumon, HP, Stylus, Head Nox, ZAP and Delta Q, in addition to the support of Hattrick, PlayTime and Bom Senso. Some spaces inside the enclosure were reserved, with various experiences and activations, which allowed the players and the public to live a padel experience in Angola.
"It was a fantastic and hotly contested tournament, open at all levels from beginners to the most experienced, which allowed for a record number of participants - 116 pairs. This was the biggest padel tournament ever in Angola, and it looks like it has a great future for this modality in the country. In Angola, between 2020 and 2023, we went from six to 40 padel courts, and more than a thousand practitioners, with emphasis on the increase in the number of children", concluded Marco Francisco, executive director of Hattrick.
In the Standard Bank Padel Open, in men, 14 pairs participated in level 1 (more experienced), 32 pairs in level 2 (high experience) and 42 pairs in levels 3 and 4 (medium-low experience and beginners). In females, eight pairs were in level 1 (more experienced) and 20 pairs in levels 2 and 3 (average experience and beginners).
