Busy weekend at Padel Club Constanța in Mamaia, which hosts the first professional padel tournament organized on the coast. After Oradea, Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest, it was Constanța’s turn to host a stage of the Professional Padel Circuit, a competition organized by one of the youngest sports federations in the country, the Romanian Padel Federation.
“The professional padel circuit is organized for the fourth year. We have had a progressive growth, from year to year, both in the number of players and in the number of cities that have hosted these tournaments. For the first time we are in Constanța, at the Padel Club Constanța, where we managed to gather almost 100 players at the start of the competition, which is very good for the first edition here.
For 2025, we also have a significant increase in the number of players – we had over 250 in Timișoara, Cluj and Bucharest. Stages are coming in Sibiu and Craiova, and in December we will organize the final stage, the Romanian Cup, in which the first 12 best players in the circuit qualify”, Nicolae Rozorea, organizer of the Professional Padel Circuit, told CTnews.
It is certainly the most important padel competition ever held on the coast, at its start being attended by some of the most valuable players in the country. One of them is Horia Nedelcu, a former tennis player, raised in the LPS “Nicolae Rotaru” Constanța nursery, who in recent years switched to padel, and the results propelled him into the national team.
“It’s a great tournament, not all the national padel elite came, but there are a few good teams. The playing conditions at Club Padel Constanța are good, it’s very good that there’s no wind and we hope to make a good impression”, said the 29-year-old athlete.
In fact, in recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the number of padel players in Romania, in the interest in tournaments organized all over the country and, implicitly, in the level of play.
“There is an increase in the level of play. We have players who are making the transition from tennis to padel, but also players who have only played padel. Thus, we have teams from Romania that have also participated in international competitions, where they have achieved good results. In the last 4-5 years, padel is the sport with the highest growth in the world and it was normal for this progress to happen here in Romania as well”, explained Nicolae Rozorea.
For the current stage of the development of this discipline in Romania, we are rather talking about the passion for padel of some people willing to invest in establishing clubs and arranging padel courts, the sports activity and the related costs returning, in most cases, to the athletes.
“Padel in Romania is in full swing, it has been around for 10-12 years. I started playing padel about three years ago and I think I’ve made pretty rapid progress. Luckily for me, I play in Bucharest, where we have the chance to be more high-level players and where I can train. I do my best to train as much as possible, to stay on the court as much as possible, to play and to raise my level as much as I can. I can’t say that we’re talking about practicing padel at a professional level – it’s more of a passion and, in general, Romanian athletes pay for what they need, from equipment to renting playing courts or participating in competitions.
Personally, although I would prefer to increase the number of hours of personal training, I have to reserve a good part of my daily time for tennis and padel lessons that I offer to those who want to learn, which helps me support myself sports activity in padel”, explained Horia Nedelcu.
On a global level, padel has experienced significant growth in recent years, with the number of practitioners rising from eight million in 2018 to approximately 30 million today. That is precisely why its inclusion among the Olympic disciplines seems justified, with a high chance that padel will be present in the 2032 Olympic Games program – a “train” that the padel world in Romania would not want to miss. In recent years, efforts have been intensified to recognize padel as a sport of national interest.
“We started in 2021, because padel was not recognized as a branch of sport in our country. We started the whole procedure, we went to the Ministry of Sports – they were dissolved, the documents stayed there for a year – then we started the steps with the General Secretariat of the Government and, finally, we reached the National Agency for Sports. In 2022, on July 22, padel was recognized as a branch of sport. After this moment, we established the padel federation. It is not yet of national interest, because three years must pass in which we organize national championships every year, the Romanian Cup, to have at least ten member clubs of the federation and 200 players.
Last year, at the world congress of the international federation in Doha, there was a unanimous vote and Romania became a member of the international padel family, as of January 1, 2025. This gave us the right to start forming the national team, with which to participate in international competitions. We are far from the Spanish, the Argentines – countries with a tradition in padel – probably in 10-15 years we will be able to make claims”, said Lucian Perescu, one of the most fervent supporters of the Romanian Padel Federation.
A first contact with the good world of padel took place with the participation, this year, in the European Championships, a competition held in Madrid (Spain).
“We had the opportunity to play with good teams, especially the Finns, who play an interesting, somehow different padel. In general, the Nordic countries play a different padel than the Spanish one, a much faster game, you get to the front much faster. It is true, the best players do not play such a padel, but it was an interesting experience for us”, said Horia Nedelcu, one of the members of the team that represented us in Madrid, together with Armand Baboian, Robert Coman, Silviu Popescu, Denis Mocanu, Robert Popescu and Cosmin Bărdan (male), respectively Giulia Naicu, Elisa Săraru, Cristina Aiello, Alice Radu, Emilia Feodorovici and Roxana Jianu (female).
One of the promoters of padel in Romania is Simone Cecchini, certified instructor of the Italian Tennis Federation (FIT) and the International Padel Federation (ITF), manager of Padel Club Constanța.
“It wasn’t easy in the first years when padel was brought to Romania, but in the last two years everything has taken off and the growth trend is for the coming years. If until now people came to play for entertainment, this year we have seen that there is a desire to hold tournaments as well. Last year it was more curiosity, now they also enjoy tournaments, people are competitive and want to test their level of play”, said Simone Cecchini.
A few years ago, it took over the sports base located in the “La Butoaie” area (B-dul Mamaia, no. 505A), known for its red clay tennis courts, to which it also added three padel courts. Padel Club Constanța has a close collaboration with Padel Corporation from Italy – one of the international leaders in the production of padel courts, recognized for quality and innovation.
“We have three padel courts, the last two, brought with the Italian company whose agent I am for Romania. We saw that it is a good market and we want to enter with the sale of padel courts, and whoever is interested can call and we offer consultancy to find the best option”, said Simone Cecchini.
Together with the Italian company, they launched in Romania an exclusive line of high-quality padel courts, the only ones in the world officially certified by TUV SUD. Padel Club Constanța offers consultancy and installation services for padel courts, adapted to the needs of clients who want to invest in this booming sport. More information can be found on the official website of Padel Club Constanța.
For padel lovers, the sports center at Padel Club Constanța is open from the early hours of the morning until late at night, with the courts equipped with night lighting. Reservations can be made by phone, WhatsApp, online on the club’s website (padelclubconstanta.ro) and on the Playtomic app.
As with the club’s home tournaments, a number of sponsors and partners were also involved in the smooth running of the stage of the Professional Padel Circuit.
“Of course, we have reliable partners who help us with the organization and I would like to thank them: Taste of the Wild – a distributor of dog and cat food, then our friends from hangOFF, who support us with energy drinks for the participants, Exclusiv Auto – one of the most important car dealers in Constanta, as well as Bucovina mineral water, which provides water for the participants. Last but not least, the game balls are from Head and we are happy that everyone is helping us and is with us!”, pointed out Simone Cecchini.
The matches within the Mamaia stage of the Professional Padel Circuit end on Sunday, but the series of tournaments continues at Padel Club Constanta: a new tournament, Mamaia Padel Open, is scheduled for the weekend of August 15-17, as part of the Romania Padel Tour.
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