South Africa’s top emerging padel players are one step closer to competing with the world’s best after the final Pretoria Premier Padel P1 wildcard places were confirmed ahead of the tournament later this month.
As excitement builds for South Africa’s first Premier Padel event, the latest selections complete another milestone following recent South African sporting success on the NOWinSA SportsDesk.
The wildcard tournament gave local players a direct pathway into the international competition, while young athletes earned places in the official ball kid programme that will operate throughout tournament week.
The Premier Padel Pretoria P1 tournament takes place at SunBet Arena in Pretoria from July 27 to August 2, bringing many of the world’s leading men’s and women’s padel players to South Africa for the first time.
Linge Steenkamp and Zoë Kruger claim women’s wildcard
The women’s final delivered one of the weekend’s standout matches as Linge Steenkamp and Zoë Kruger defeated Debbie van Aswegen and Marné Roos 7-6, 6-4 to secure the lone women’s wildcard into the main draw.
Their victory means Steenkamp and Kruger will bypass qualifying and take their place directly among the international field competing for valuable FIP ranking points.
Van Aswegen and Roos also kept their Pretoria Premier P1 hopes alive by earning a place in the qualifying draw, where they will battle for one of the remaining main draw positions.
Men’s finalists secure multiple Pretoria Premier P1 places
The men’s championship was decided over three sets as Richard Ashforth and Luan Krige recovered from dropping the opening set to beat Adam van Harte and Warren Kuhn 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Ashforth and Krige claimed the wildcard title and direct entry into the main draw.
Because the tournament allocated several local men’s places, runners-up Van Harte and Kuhn also secured direct main draw entry, alongside Jason Blakey-Milner and Egmond van Heerden, who finished third.
Two additional South African pairs will begin in qualifying. Aidan Carrazedo and Tremayne Mitchell qualified after finishing fourth, while Jason Hewitt and Chevaan Davids claimed the fifth qualifying place.
Official Pretoria Premier P1 ball kid squad selected
Away from the wildcard matches, organisers also finalised the official Premier Padel Pretoria P1 Ball Kid Squad following regional assessment trials led by Padel Promises South Africa.
Selected youngsters have been divided into two specialist teams.
The Court Ballkid Squad will work courtside throughout matches, retrieving balls and supporting match officials and players.
The Player Walk-Out Squad will accompany international stars onto court during official player introductions and opening ceremonies.
Finalists will now receive specialised training schedules and operational briefings before tournament week begins at SunBet Arena.
Countdown begins to South Africa’s biggest padel tournament
Attention now shifts from qualification to competition.
Qualifying matches begin before the main draw gets underway, with South Africa’s successful wildcard entrants set to test themselves against some of the sport’s highest-ranked international players.
The tournament runs from July 27 to August 2 at SunBet Arena in Pretoria, with tickets available through Ticketmaster.
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