12 Oct 2026
Aspire Academy student-athlete Hassan Waly warmed up for the International Padel Federation (FIP) Promises Aspire Academy tournament by winning the under-18 title at the FIP Promises Damac Dubai II event in the UAE.
For the Grade 12 student-athlete, it was his second FIP Promises title in Dubai following his victory in May and his fourth overall, adding to previous titles in Portugal and Egypt.
Partnering with Egypt’s Mohamed El-Hamamy, Waly won the title without dropping a set and conceded just 12 games throughout the event.
Student-athletes Essa Alkuwari (Grade 11) and Ali Abdulrahman Al-Malik (Grade 10) also reached the podium as runners-up in the under-16s, losing narrowly in the final to the top seeds, Sayed Hashem Almazeedi and Yaqoub Zainal, from Kuwait.
In the under-14s, Nawaf Alyafei (Grade 8) finished joint third after he was forced to retire in the semi-finals when his playing partner Hamdan Alhashmi from the United Arab Emirates picked up an injury.
The players are now preparing to compete on home courts at the FIP Promises Aspire Academy tournament, the Academy’s second Promises Tour event following the 2024 edition.
The FIP Promises Tour is for age groups from under-12 to under-18, designed to develop young players through high-level international competition.
Aspire Academy also celebrated success on the squash court, with Grade 11 student-athlete Talal Al Badr winning the under-17 title at the Hungarian Junior Open in Budapest.
In the same category, Omar Farag lost in the semi-finals, but was unfortunately unable to play the third-place play-off match due to illness.
In fencing, Abdullah Dakak produced an outstanding performance at the Witold Woyda Cadet Foil tournament in Warsaw, Poland, finishing joint third among 133 under-17 fencers from around the world.
The Grade 11 student-athlete won all his pool matches, then advanced to the semi-finals, where he lost to eventual winner Krystof Novak of Czechia.
Abdulrahman Poorgharib (Grade 12) also won all his pool matches before losing in the quarter-finals, a performance that placed him fifth overall.
For the team event, Dakak and Poorgharib were joined by Yousif Ibrahim (Grade 11), who had placed 55th in the individual competition. The trio finished fourth overall after losing in the semi-finals.
The foil fencers now travel to Hungary for a training camp before moving to Slovakia to compete at another European Circuit event.