Doha, Qatar: Favourites Argentina and Spain both secured dominant wins, while hosts Qatar suffered a 3-0 loss to Chile on the opening day of the FIP World Padel Championships in Doha yesterday.

At the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex, last tournament’s runners-up Spain swept past Mexico in their Men’s Group B tiem while the reigning champions Argentina beat Italy in Group A.

Spain’s 3-0 win yesterday was powered by dominant performances by some of the top-ranked padel stars in the world.

In the opening match at Grand Stand 2, World No.5 Juan Lebron and No.9-ranked Miguel Yanguas set the pace with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Arredondo Garcia and Barrientos Garcia in just 35 minutes to take a strong lead. Next, World No.1 Arturo Coello and No. 8 Francisco Navarro teamed up to crush Amora Hernandez and J Hazouri Celorio 6-0, 6-0 to reassure Spain’s position as a tournament favorite. In the final match Alejandro Galan, ranked No.3, and Alejandro Ruiz wrapped up the clean sweep with another dominant win of 6-1,6-0 against M Montano and J Rangel to give Spain an impressive start in the competition.

Meanwhile, at Grand Stand 1, Argentina also secured a clean sweep. Argentinian men delivered a dominant performance in their opening Group A match against Italy.

Argentina’s top pair, Agustin Tapia (No.2 in the world) and Federico Chingotto (No.4) put the South American team ahead with a 6-3, 7-5 win despite strong resistance from Italy’s A Patiniotis and L Di Giovanni in a match lasted over an hour.

In the second match, Franco Hernan Stupaczuk (No.7) and Valentino Gabriel Libaak made quick work of R Sinicropi and G Graziotti with a commanding 6-1, 6-0 win as Argentina went 2-0 up. Martin Emiliano Di Nenno (No. 6) and Leandro Roman Augsburger sealed Argentina’s 3-0 win with a 6-4, 7-4 score after overcoming S. Cremona and M. Cassetta.

Against Qatar yesterday, J Valdes and G Valdivieso Comesana gave Chile an early lead when they beat Mohammed Saadon Alkuwari and Mohammed Al Khanji with a 6-2, 6-2 scoreline in 53 minutes. Following them, S Munoz Campos and I A Lehyt Sances overcame Jabor Al Mutawa and Hassan Adel Waly 6-3, 6-2 in a thrilling match that stretched to 1 hour and 25 minutes. C Molina and C Martinez sealed Chile’s victory by beating Abdulla Alhijji and Rayyan Aljufairi 6-2, 6-1 in 46 minutes.

In other match-ups in Men’s side on Day 1, UAE beat Paraguay 2-1 while Belgium defeated USA 2-1 late in the evening.

Today, Qatar will take on the last tournament’s bronze winners France in their second tie in Group C.

On the women’s side, France defeated Denmark 3-0, Netherlands won 2-1 against Belgium, Sweden overcame Japan 3-0, Portugal beat Egypt 3-0 and Germany secured a 2-1 win over Chile. Title favourites Argentina and Spain secured dominant 3-0 wins against USA and Brazil respectively.

Meanwhile, President of the Qatar Tennis, Squash, Padel, and Badminton Federation Nasser bin Ghanem Al Khelaifi highlighted the hosting of the World Championships in Doha for the second time, following a highly successful edition in 2021, highlights Qatar’s strong commitment to promoting and developing the sport both locally and internationally.

Al Khelaifi also noted that Qatar’s goal in hosting events of this caliber is to establish itself as a global sports hub, particularly given the country’s advanced sports infrastructure and the vast expertise of its event management teams.

“Through this tournament, we celebrate the achievements of Qatari sports and the role that sports play in uniting cultures from around the world,” Al Khelaifi said, extending warm welcome on behalf of the organisers to all participants, officials from the International Padel Federation, and guests.