20 Oct 2026
Aspire Academy hosted and organised its second highly successful International Padel Federation (FIP) Promises event, attracting more than 130 competitors.
Alongside local Qatari players, 28 other nations were represented, including players travelling from South Africa, Spain and Argentina and the GCC.
The FIP Promises Aspire Academy features 104 teams across the four age categories, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18, making it the largest FIP Promises event in the region in 2026.
The FIP Promises Tour is the International Padel Federation’s official junior circuit, providing international competition for players in the under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 age categories.
Hosting an FIP Promises event reinforces Aspire Academy’s commitment to developing Qatar’s young padel talent by offering its student-athletes valuable international competition on home soil.
It also highlights Aspire Academy’s key role in supporting padel development not just in Qatar, but across the region.
The Tournament Director and Aspire Academy Senior Padel Coach Ignacio Gorbea highlighted the benefits of hosting such events.
“It is very important for us to show the world what we are doing here at Aspire Academy with the padel project that we started just three years ago,” he explained.
“An FIP Promises tournament not only highlights the progress that our players here in Qatar are making but also the expertise that Aspire Academy boasts: the coaching teams, the marketing and communications department, organisers, logistics, and volunteers.
“Padel is growing at a rapid pace around the world and we are incredibly proud at Aspire Academy of the level our players have reached.”
“We have received some really good feedback from coaches, players, parents and other federations too. That’s important to us because we have been working on this tournament for several months now."
Aspire Academy also celebrated success on the court as Hassan Waly’s 2026 winning streak continued with the under-18 title.
The grade 12 student-athlete was one of three from Aspire Academy to win titles on home soil as Ali Abdulrahman Al-Malik (grade 10) won the under-16s, and Elias Lejmi battled through a tough final to claim the under-14s.
Among the spectators cheering on the players were Argentina’s Ambassador to Qatar, His Excellency Guillermo Luis Nicolás, Aspire Academy’s Chief Corporate Services Officer Ali Sultan Fakhroo, Chief of Education and Student Affairs Officer Jassem Al Jaber and Prof Valter Di Salvo, Director of Football Performance and Science.
Other members of Aspire Academy’s senior management were also on hand to present the winners with their trophies: Markus Egger, Director of Sports; Saeed Srour, Director of Human Resources; Muneera Hammam, Acting Director of Marketing and Communications; and Mariano Amat, the Academy’s Head Padel Coach.
This was Hassan Waly’s fifth FIP Promises under-18 title since April, adding to his silver medal at May’s GCC Games in Doha.
Waly, partnering Spain’s Jose Domingo Martinez, dropped his first-ever FIP Promises set in the final but fought back to beat Kuwaiti pair Ali Hussain Mayouf and Sulaiman Qabazard.
The win further cements Waly's place at the top of Asia's under-18 FIP rankings, but he admits he is still learning.
“That final showed me that momentum in padel can change very fast, but you need to stay determined,” he said.
“It is important for me to remember that even if I am winning a match, I can’t afford to relax; I need to keep going until the very last point.”
“It was a privilege to play at home; I have played at several other FIP Promises tournaments, and this was the best organisation that I have experienced – the matches all began on time, the order of play was clear, and the court conditions were excellent.”
Aspire Academy’s Ali Abdulrahman Al-Malik enjoyed a more straightforward victory in the under-16 competition. Partnering Kuwait’s Sayed Hashem Almazeedi, the top seeds defeated the Qatari duo of Ahmed Hassan Abulla and Ali Almalik in straight sets to claim the title.
Al-Malik had earlier overcome fellow Aspire Academy student-athlete Essa Al-Kuwari in the semi-finals.
In the under-14s, Aspire Academy’s Elias Lejmi (grade 8) and his Argentine partner, Constantino Leiva, delivered an outstanding performance.
The duo came back from a set down to beat Kuwait's top seeds, Abdulrahman Bineedan and Yaqoub Zainal, in a match tie-break.
Beyond the medal success, the tournament provided a total of 10 Aspire Academy student-athletes the opportunity to compete in an international tournament and gain valuable experience as their development continues.