Last week Swedes witnessed a groundbreaking achievement when Baharak Soleymani, along with her temporary partner Ajla Behram reached the final of APT Monaco — becoming the first Swedish couple (in total, 17 Swedish players submitted to the competition) to reach a final in one of the global tournaments. 

A historical moment in the short history of Nordic Padel, and to be honest, the Scandinavians are reaching new milestones at a fierce tempo at the moment – the question we all ask ourselves is: 

• How far could these players reach? 
• What is the ceiling of the Scandinavian Elite? 
• Can these players be competitive at the absolute highest level, or do we have to wait for the next generation before we can see Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, and Finns competing against the best? 

Well, it is only speculation and for now, let us celebrate the progress and the journey. However, for the next generation – the infrastructure will be vital. Building infrastructure is an area where Scandinavians excel at the highest level. 

While the Danish Padel Federation has partnered with their Tennis counterpart, the Swedes have chosen a different part. They are keeping the Padel Federation independent from other federations to be able to set their agenda to develop Padel as a sport. 

The future will tell what path will be the most successful one. However, at the moment, there are other concerns – at least in Sweden, after several board members, including president Thomas Andersson of
the Federation left their positions in protest. 

What will happen there remains to be seen.

”Several of the top players haven’t submitted their participation”

On the other hand, the 2022 season has begun, and already the next weekend, the second competition of the Swedish Padel Tour will take place. 

However, several of the top players haven’t submitted their participation. Instead, they will focus on the qualification for the World Padel Tour. This has been a huge debate over the last year, where the Swedish Federation wants their players to play the domestic tour, while the players choose to prioritize
competing against better players at an international level. 

And just like in the big world, competing tours have taken the players' interest (and probably other parties' interest) and established new circuits. 

The Euro Finans Invitational* is one of these that ran already last season and now have announced that they will run their circuit for the second year, consisting of four events spread around Sweden. 

”We saw players like Arturo Coello, Miguel Yanguas, Tamara Icardo, and Javi Leal”

Euro Finans Invitational has a different approach where Scandinavian players are paired with international stars and upcoming players – last year, we saw players like Arturo Coello, Miguel Yanguas, Tamara Icardo, and Javi Leal making a name for themselves while at the same time becoming household names in
the World Padel Tour. 

Who we will see this year remains to be seen. The announcement of the second season of Euro Finans Invitational is exciting. It shows that there is still a gap to be filled between the domestic tournaments and the international ones.

While competition is fierce in the domestic scene, World Padel Tour and APT Padel Tour have announced that tournaments will be played in Scandinavia during the year. The first one will take place in Copenhagen from 16 to 22 of May when the World Padel Tour will play in Denmark for the first time. Furthermore, World Padel Tour will play twice in Sweden, and Finland will get an exhibition starting at the end of June. 

APT has also announced its presence in Scandinavia with a tournament at the beginning of August. Unfortunately, it seems like the much anticipated America vs. Europe tournament held last year in Båstad won’t take place this year. 

The full calendar of the biggest events in Nordic Padel 2022

• 16-22 May – World Padel Tour Copenhagen, Denmark
• 30 JUNE-3 JULY – World Padel Tour Exhibition Tampere, Finland
• 12-18 SEP – World Padel Tour Stockholm, Sverige
• 9-13 NOV– World Padel Tour Malmö, Sweden
• 1-7 AUG – APT Padel Tour Sweden
  
  Gustaf was part of the team last year launching the Euro Finans Invitational.