From new public courts to a first national title: how Lahore became a padel hub in 2026

Padel arrived in Pakistan through private clubs in Karachi, but 2026 has been the year Lahore caught up. Between April and September, the city hosted the country's first national championship, a stop on a regional professional circuit and the opening of a government-funded court complex.

April: two big events in one week

The Asia Pacific Padel Tour's Challenger Pakistan Circuit, run by The Padel Collective, brought its Lahore leg to the city from 2 to 5 April 2026, following a Karachi opener in January. The circuit offered a combined prize pool of more than PKR 10 million across its city stops, carried APPT ranking points and promised the strongest pairs a route to the Asia Pacific Padel Championship in Manila.

The Lahore leg spread across professional, amateur and lower-grade divisions. Huzaima and Huzaifa took the men's pro title, Sheeza and Asfa won the women's pro event and Salar and Tanya claimed the pro mixed draw, with further titles in the amateur and B and C categories.

Later in April, the Pakistan Padel Federation staged its inaugural National Padel Championship in Lahore, reported by APP on 13 April 2026. More than 100 players entered and the prize pool was Rs3 million. Islamabad brothers Huzaifa Abdul Rehman and Huzaima Abdul Rehman won the men's open final 6-1, 6-2 against Sami Zain Khan and Ahmed Kamil, collecting Rs500,000. Asifa Shahbaz and Shiza Sajid won the women's open, beating Ushna Sohail and Mehak Khokhar, and Muhammad Qasim and Faisal Anwar took the veterans' event. The federation also used the championship as a qualifying opportunity linked to the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

September: the state steps in

On 5 September 2026, ProPakistani reported that Punjab Sports Minister Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar had inaugurated five newly built padel courts in Lahore. One court was built to international specifications, while the other four are intended for national competitions, training and day-to-day practice. The project was estimated to have cost between Rs100 million and Rs120 million and includes seating and basic facilities for players and spectators. Play had already started at the time of the report, and the province said a similar facility would follow in Sialkot.

That matters because padel in Pakistan has so far been driven almost entirely by private operators charging commercial rates. A publicly funded venue gives the sport a home that is not tied to a single club, and gives the provincial sports department a stake in its growth.

Reading the trend

Three things stand out from Lahore's year.

• Competition depth is rising. A city that hosted one major padel event in previous years now has a national championship, a ranking circuit stop and smaller events such as the Toyo Nasic Master, which the Rehman brothers also won in Lahore, coming from a set down to beat Abdullah and Salar in the men's A final.
• Women's draws are established. Both April events ran women's professional categories with recognised pairs, rather than treating women's play as an add-on.
• Government money has arrived. The new courts are the clearest sign yet that padel is being treated as a sport worth public investment rather than a lifestyle trend.

The open questions are access and pricing. Whether the new government courts offer affordable slots to school and club players, and whether Sialkot's promised facility appears on schedule, will show how far the boom reaches beyond Lahore's established padel crowd.