World Cup field nearly set as padel wins its first South American Games golds

The Netherlands men take Europe's last World Cup place. Yesterday's edition covered the GB women and Germany. The other men's ticket from Madrid went to the Netherlands, who beat Belgium in their semi-final, with wins for Richters and Roper and for De Kroon and Prins. That makes 15 men's and 15 women's teams confirmed for Doha. The final two places, one for men and one for women, will be decided at the Asia-Africa qualifier at Padel In Club in Kuwait from 26 to 30 October. Source: FIP

First South American Games golds go to Paraguay and Argentina. Padel was a full medal sport at the Games for the first time, after appearing only as an exhibition in Asunción in 2022. In front of a sold-out crowd of 4,100 in Rafaela, Argentina, Paraguay's Martín Abud and Facundo Dehnike beat the home pair Santino Contreras and Ignacio Piotto 6-4, 7-6 to win the men's title. Argentina's Victoria Milena Vilchez and María Belén Mosca took the women's gold, beating Chile's Catalina Arancibia and Kimberley Ahumada 6-2, 6-3. Uruguay and Ecuador won the bronze medals. Source: FIP

Rotterdam P2 starts today. Qualifying at Rotterdam Ahoy runs from today to Tuesday, with the main draw from 29 September and both finals on Sunday 4 October. The men's main draw has 28 pairs and the women's 24, playing for a total purse of about €264,500. Source: FIP

Upsets in Lyon before finals day. The FIP Platinum in Lyon finishes today. France's Alix Collombon and Ksenia Sharifova knocked out top seeds Ale Salazar, the defending champion, and Aranzazu Osoro 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 in the quarter-finals. In the men's draw, 2025 champion Juanlu Esbri and Iñigo Jofre beat third seeds Martín Di Nenno and Juan Tello 6-4, 6-2. Top seeds Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz also reached the semi-finals. Source: FIP

A new app wants to follow players from club to club. NETCLUB launched on iOS and Android on 25 September. It gives each player one profile that keeps their match history and level wherever they play, with levels recalculated according to the strength of opponents. It also offers leagues with divisions, a club dashboard for bookings and tournaments, and tools for coaches to manage students and payments. Source: PadelSpain (Spanish)

Joma makes a shoe for the Germany P2. The Spanish brand has released a limited edition of its Slam padel shoe in a black, red and yellow gradient to mark next month's Premier Padel event in Germany. It is a small example of brands tying products to single tour stops. Source: PadelSpain (Spanish)

Play Padel heads to Meadowhall. Sheffield's Play Padel Group will open its second club at the Meadowhall shopping centre at the end of October. It has eight indoor courts, one of them a singles court, plus a café, bar, warm-up gym and changing rooms. The group, whose shareholders include Joe Root and Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, is offering 100 founding memberships at £99 a year. Source: The Padel Paper

Southampton council backs six covered public courts. The city council's cabinet approved just over £1 million on 22 September for six canopied pay-and-play courts at the Outdoor Sports Centre in Bassett. The council expects booking income to repay the cost within ten years. Planning applications go in this December, with building in early 2027 and opening planned for June 2027. Source: Hello Southampton