Padbol is a fusion sport created in

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in 2008, combining elements of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

(soccer),

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and

squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...

. It is currently played in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

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and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

History

Padbol was created in 2008 by Gustavo Miguens in

. The first courts were built in 2011 in Argentina, in cities including

Rojas Rojas is a surname found throughout the Spanish-speaking world, especially in Latin America. Rojas may refer to: People A * Adrián Rojas (born 1977), Chilean professional football player and father * Aguelmis Rojas (born 1978), Cuban long-di ...

Punta Alta Punta Alta is a city in Argentina, about 25 kilometers southeast of Bahía Blanca. It has a population of 57,293. It is the capital ("cabecera") of the Coronel Rosales Partido. It was founded on 2 July 1898. The city is located near the Atlant ...

, and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. Then courts were added in Spain, Uruguay and Italy, and more recently in Portugal, Sweden, Mexico, Romania, and the United States. Australia, Bolivia, Iran, and France are the newest countries to adopt the sport. In 2013 the first Padbol World Cup was held in La Plata. The champions were the Spanish pair, Ocaña and Palacios. In 2014 the second World Cup was held in

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

. The champions were the Spanish pair Ramón and Hernández. The third World Cup took place at

Punta del Este Punta del Este () is a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Starting as a small town, Punta del Este grew to become a resort for the Latin and North American jet set and tourists. T ...

, in 2016

Rules

Court

The playing area is a walled court, 10m long and 6m wide. It is divided by a net, with a height of at most 1m at each end and between 90 and 100 cm in the center. The walls should be at least 2.5m high and of equal height. There must be at least one entrance to the court, which may or may not have a door.

Areas

There are three zones : a Service Zone, Reception zone and Red Zone. *Service zone: The server must be within this zone while serving. *Reception zone: The area between the net and the service zone. Balls that land on the lines between the zones are considered to be inside this zone. *Red zone: The middle of the court, extending across its width, and 1m on each side of the net. It is colored red.

Ball

The ball has a uniform outer surface and is coloured white or yellow. Its perimeter is 670 mm, made of polyurethane; it can weigh from 380-400 grams.

Summary

* Players: 4, played in a doubles format. * Serves: Serves must be underhand. A second serve is allowed in the event a fault, as in tennis. * Score: Scoring method is the same as in tennis. Matches are best of three sets. * Ball: Like a

but smaller * Court: There are two styles of courts: indoor and outdoor * Walls: Walls or fences are part of the game. They should be constructed so that the ball bounces off of them.

FIPA (International Federation of Padbol Associates)

30 Members in March 2025: # Latin America (8): ARG,BOL,BRA,ECU,MEX,PAR,PER,URU # Europe (14): AUT,CYP,FRA,GER,HUN,ITA,LIE,MDA,NED,POL,POR,ESP,ROU,UKR # Asia (6): ISR,BHR,KUW,QAT,IRI,UAE # Africa (2): EGY,RSA

Tournaments

Padbol World Cup

In March 2013 the first FIPA (International Federation of Padbol Associates) was held in

. Participants were sixteen couples from Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, and Spain. In the Final, Ocaña/Palacios won 6-1/6-1 against Saiz/Rodriguez. The second World Cup was held in November 2014 in Alicante, Spain. 15 pairs participated from seven countries (Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden). Ramón/Hernández won the final 6-4/7-5 against Ocaña/Palacios. The third edition was held in

, Uruguay, in 2016. In 2017, a European Cup was held in

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

, Romania. The 2019 World Cup also took place in Romania.

World Rankings

Current rankings

References

External links

Padbol Official Page

Padbol Romania
{{Hybrid sport Ball games Association football variants Hybrid sports