Humans of Padel
Join your host Max Marsh Pickard, General Manager of Padel Art & Co founder of The Padel Outlet in a weekly entertaining dive into the world of Padel and the people involved in the industry
Humans of Padel
From Sibling Rivalry to National Glory | Mohamed Aljanahi's Padel Journey in the UAE
What if you could transform a casual family rivalry into a national sports phenomenon? Join us as we chat with Mohamed Aljanahi, a key player for the UAE National Team, who shares his journey from tennis courts to padel courts. Hear the riveting tale of Mohamed's first taste of padel at the NAS Ramadan tournament in 2014, where he and his brother made a sensational run to the finals. Through humor-filled sibling competitions and a passion for racquet sports, Mohamed reveals how his family's legacy in tennis paved the way for their success in padel, with his brother Fares emerging as a standout talent.
Discover the explosive growth of padel in the UAE and the GCC region, fueled by the pandemic and a surge in indoor facilities. Mohamed discusses the unwavering support from local fans and outlines his vision for the sport's future, including the potential for an organized league to elevate padel's competitive edge. We explore the professional dynamics of padel, drawing parallels to tennis greats like Roger Federer and speculating on the sport's inclusion in the Olympics. This episode sheds light on the essential role of continuous learning and development to meet international standards.
We wrap up with an enlightening discussion on the impact of military service on personal growth and discipline, drawing connections to the strategic nature of paddle. Mohamed also shares what makes a padel club truly successful, stressing community and good management over luxury. We delve into the thriving business environment in the UAE, which has transformed areas like Al-Qouz into padel hubs, and examine the ease of setting up businesses that has catalyzed the sport's rapid growth. This episode is a treasure trove of inspiring stories, strategic insights, and a captivating look at the future of padel in the UAE.
Hi guys, welcome back to the Max Plays Paddle podcast. In this episode, I'm joined by Mohamed Aljanahi, uae national team player and a pillar of the paddle community in the UAE. In this conversation, we discuss many topics, including him competing for the national team paddle in the UAE and the perception of the UAE from around the world. I think you'll really enjoy this conversation. Do give us your feedback on Instagram at MaxPlaysPaddle, and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Today, I'm joined by Mohamed El-Junahi. It's a pleasure to have you with me. I'm excited about this conversation because you and I we've been exchanging messages on Instagram, built a bit of an Instagram friendship, but we've never really had a sit-down moment the and a sit-down moment the two of us, a bit of a heart-to-heart. So now's the time. Welcome, mohamed, thank you. Thanks, max. It's a pleasure to be here. I mean, it's a blessing. I mean, let's get straight into it. Tell us the story of the first time you heard about paddle.
Speaker 2:The first time actually was. It was funny. It was during Ramadan. There was a Nassr Ramadan tournament, which everyone knows about now, and one of my friends called me and he's like there's this sport called paddle and I was like what is it? He said it's similar to tennis and he said there's a tournament happening. Do you want to participate and be part of my team? And during Ramadan there wasn't any tennis events going on or any activations. So I was like yes, for sure. And it was indoors. So we participated and it was a team's event and there was UAE Nationals category. In the team's event, I participated with my friend and his team. This was in 2014. And in the UAE Nationals category, I participated with my brother, faris Al-Janahi, and, funny enough, in the final of the UAE Nationals, we lost against our brother Abdurrahman and Omar Bahruzian.
Speaker 1:So the first time you ever played paddle, you got to the final of a tournament Of the.
Speaker 2:UAE National category. Yes, the team's event we lost in the quarters.
Speaker 1:Still, that's quite an impressive result for a first attempt. You mentioned your brother Fares and obviously in the UAE, you guys as the Janahi family almost a dynasty, you could call it of paddle players, tennis players. How are you guys so good at racquet sports?
Speaker 2:First of all, I'll say that's all a blessing from allah. Thanks to allah for that, uh, alhamdulillah, uh, honestly, max, it's a lot of practice, it's a lot of dedication, uh. Before paddle, we used to play tennis almost every day uh. So I think all that build-up of tennis uh has led to this racket sport which is paddle right now, and then has given us a bigger upper hand in a skill-wise set, let me say for us, rather than starting from zero in paddle. So I think that helped majorly in playing tennis previously, as a lot of paddle players are transitioning from tennis to paddle or from squash to paddle.
Speaker 1:Definitely. Which of the Janahis would you say is the best paddle player? Of course Mohamed Janahi. He's great. Yeah, I've heard he's an excellent player. I am the best. I'm sure your brother will have something to say about that.
Speaker 2:Honestly. I believe it's my brother, faris Janahi. I believe he's the best. He's the most competitive, has more skill set than me or the others. Abdurrahman is between tennis and paddle, but he plays paddle a lot. Majid is also up there with Faris, but we like to compete all of us. You guys play together. Yeah, we do. Uh, so last time we had a match all four of us it was me and abdurrahman, because we're the eldest against faris and majid, who are the two youngest and, unfortunately, the younger generation won. Oh so I need to train, I need to train abdurrahman and we need to get back yeah, we'll have to set up a rematch for that.
Speaker 1:I would love to see that. Let's do it. Do you guys trash talk a lot really every day?
Speaker 2:in Arabic, arabic, english, you, you name it in Spanish if we can't really at home in the court is the trash talk worse in English or in Arabic? In English yeah, but it's with. It's within limits. It's within competitive limits, yeah, it's in good spirit.
Speaker 1:Right, it's not in good spirit, it's in good spirit right, it's not mean. No, it's not mean, because whenever I've come across like Arabic insults or Arabic trash talk, it's super, super violent, like right out there. I think it's hilarious. We don't not a lot of Europeans especially kind of have exposure to that, and it's the humor that you can get sometimes from the Arabic language. I think it's hilarious is hilarious.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it could get extreme and a lot of people are not used to it, but we control that limitation over there, I guess. I mean it's good that you keep the respect between the brothers Of course, yeah, you have to always be at the strongest bond with your family and start with your brother, your sister, your parents, and then from there it grows yeah.
Speaker 1:So after this first tournament that you won, you're a national uh category. Then how was the journey after that? Sorry, I got second place. Oh, you came second. Sorry, so you have to leave now. You can't stay here. Second place, we don't accept losers in this podcast. I won the next year. Well, there you go. That's the next step of the journey. So you, you decided after that what you like paddle, you want to continue, you want to start training. How was the journey after that?
Speaker 2:So, after that Nas had a coach, a head coach, Sandy. Everyone knows him, obviously. So he contacted me and said do you want to continue playing paddle and Nas and train and try to get more serious about it? And then obviously I accepted, because it was perfect conditions and for me to explore the new sport, especially with tennis, the downtrend it had in the UAE. I was more than happy to do so and it was more than it was a pleasure for Sandy to call me and to be part of that.
Speaker 2:So after that Ramadan in 2014, we started training in NAS. You could say we were a group of four to six players and then they introduced some fitness training paddle related and then we continued. However, there wasn't a lot of competition out there. So you would train in NAS. You would compete with the players there, with Sandy, would play a lot with us he was miles better than all of us in the court and then you had competitions happening in Emirates Golf Club and in Abu Dhabi Golf Club. So I remember at the time you would drive once every three months to Abu Dhabi and play in Abu Dhabi Country Club, or every weekend you would have a social event in Emirates Golf Club. So I used to go a lot to those. We used to start sometimes 7 am and it would go on up to 7 pm.
Speaker 2:This is 2014, 15, 16. This is 2014, 15, 16. It wasn't so competitive, but the level was not so high, obviously, but it was fun. It was so much fun. Every time I went there, I met someone new. Every time I went there I had a good experience. You never had a bad experience and it was always a big group. Everyone who participated in the social slash tournament would stay to the end, which was like 7 to 8 pm, and watch the final, and then everyone would head home. So that was the biggest. The biggest factor which kept me, kept me addicted to it, is the social factor of every time I played, every time I had a match, I met someone new. I mean, this is 10 years ago.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's crazy how much the sport has changed since then. But what was the profile of players playing paddle 10 years ago other than yourself and a few people who were playing in NAS?
Speaker 2:So you had I can say this this actually confidently sandy was the best in the uae, not just dubai and then, uh, nas onboarded a coach, javi lopez, and then it was between them. So they were like miles ahead of everyone at the time. And then you had other players, but who weren't full time like Sandy and Javi. So you had like Emilio, you had Pedro, and then there's another really good tennis coach who used to play really good in Padula I forgot his name, it's not on my mind right now. He used to play with Emilio also. So you had like six top players in the uae and then everyone else you could say was a c minus okay, so a huge gap in the level.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, did you expect the sport to grow as much as it has done in the past 10 years?
Speaker 2:honestly, I always felt people would enjoy the sport. I always felt it has potential, but what we see today was something I didn't even imagine. It was like it was a dream for me at the time to have so many options of clubs to go play a tournament at, to go play a social at, to go play a match, so many options of players to play with, which we have today. We didn't at that time. So at that time I would try to arrange a match with the group in Nass and if no one was able to, then I would have to resort to Emirates Golf Club and then from there we would have to do a matchmaking which always was successful.
Speaker 1:They had a very successful matchmaker and they would always find different occurrence matches that's great, even at that time, that you're able to to fill your matches, because that's always the struggle of paddle, isn't it? Finding the four players? Yes, what do you think really kicked off paddle in the UAE?
Speaker 2:I mean funny enough if you look at it, if you look at the series of events, it's the COVID, I think, compared to other sports or other hobbies, the main factor which helped paddle is that because of COVID rules at the time, there was a distance between the players and apparently that's the main thing which allowed paddle to continue when gyms were closed or other events were closed. It allowed paddle to continue and it just boomed and at the time people didn't discover, but it's a very addictive sport. It's a very addictive sport. Once you start it's so hard to stop, unless if you have an injury. And you'll notice a lot of players, even like social players, if they get an injury and stop for a while, they're always back yeah, it's a sport where everyone can play right, it's accessible to everybody.
Speaker 1:I mean, I look at my parents, you know they're over the age of 60. They they play paddle, they enjoy it. And you've got people older than that that do enjoy it the UAE. Now you have a lot of juniors as well, getting into the sport at a young age and it doesn't have that strain on the body that tennis could have on certain people. Obviously, your involvement in the sport for the past 10 years, it's really, like you said, since covid, that it's really taken off.
Speaker 2:Where do you see it going from now, honestly, internationally, like I believe the next olympics we should see paddle, because there's a lot of other competitive sports which have a less advantage compared to paddle globally, which are already on the olympics. So I believe paddle should be next in the olympics. This is internationally. Uh, in the gcc it has grown like I don't have the numbers percentage wise or statistically, but it has grown so much and now you see it's expanding so much in saudi arab Arabia, for example, which is the largest GCC country. So that's the biggest impact which you will see now. I see it growing, I see it growing, I see it here to stay. So if you're gonna talk about the GCC at least, or in these hot countries, it will really depend on indoor facilities. That's a big factor which will play into the sport.
Speaker 1:I mean dubai, you have a lot of great indoor facilities now and there's there's still more being built more and more every every month, which I think is great. I love it. I mean, the more courts there are, the more players there are, the more the sport's going to grow, and I think it's great for for everybody. And as you mentioned the Olympics, I was watching the Olympics and now you have skateboarding, you have speed, rock climbing, breakdancing, breakdancing. I mean I do agree. I think paddle deserves to be within that mix of sports. And in regards to the GCC and the other Gulf countries, obviously you've competed for your national team, for the UAE. How was that experience?
Speaker 2:Honestly, it was one of the, if not the best experience of my life. There's no greater feeling than representing your flag and doing everything you can to reach your maximum potential, because you're representing your country and everyone who stands behind you. So it's it's a very hard feeling to describe, but it's such a proud feeling and you really forget about everything and you just have that target to do your best and to just compete and try to try to win everything.
Speaker 1:And it's amazing also the support that you guys have locally. When you were competing I can't remember which of the competitions it was in NAS and it was packed the amount of support, the amount of people that show up to support the UAE national team in paddle I've not seen that in other sports. It's like it's sport that's really grabbed the imagination um of the uae and everyone wants to support you guys and everyone's behind it.
Speaker 2:You guys are all stars, you're superstars, you're famous for being paddle players I mean honestly for me, uh like, if I go back to the GCC Cup, honestly I never realized or noticed the amount of people who were in the stadium, especially that night. I never noticed until we finished the tournament, after that championship point, and I just look around and I was just shocked. And then later, when people told me that the stadium was overpacked. So, let's say, the limit was 2,200. It had 3,000. That was the numbers I heard. But when I was watching the picture sorry, looking at the pictures later, I think I saw people cramped up on the stairs and it was just fully packed, like you just mentioned, and it was just. It was amazing. It was such a, it was such fully packed, like you just mentioned, and it was amazing. It was such a blissful feeling and it's an honour to be able to. It's always an honour to be able to represent the national team and to have everyone's support of course I mean.
Speaker 1:I can only imagine what that feeling is. I've never represented my country and I envy you for that. What do you think is missing for paddling the UAE to go to the next step?
Speaker 2:Well, honestly, max, if you look at it like, alhamdulillah, we have, you could say everything. So we have academies, we have clubs, we have tournaments. We also have so many social events. We have so many sponsors, so many brands who are out there sponsoring players or athletes, regardless of their pros, or people who play as a hobby. At the same time you have people who are full-time or people who play as a hobby. At the same time you have people who are full-time. So I'm not going to say there's something missing, but I'm going to say that, after COVID and how the sport has grown in the UAE, so we're only learning right and I believe we're moving in a very good direction, of course, with the support of the Federation, the UAEPA, they're very supportive with all the clubs. And then you have the Ramadan events. They create the tours, the engagement they have with the clubs, where, like from what I heard, that you can bid for a tournament to host it in your club, which is part of the federation tour. So that's also a really good step we're taking. So, like I said, I'm not going to say there's something missing. I'm going to say we're learning and there's more we can do. For example, there's one thing I've been wanting to see since 2022 July, for instance, specifically that date, because that's the date where I wanted to see it.
Speaker 2:I had the idea, proposed it to a couple of people, but it just went off because a lot of things came up.
Speaker 2:So there's one thing which I believe we should have, at least in the UAE or at least Dubai is a tour between a league, a league between clubs. So the idea is not to have oh, my club is better than yours. No, it's to compete and to grow the levels of everyone. To grow the levels of everyone. The level is to grow between everyone, because if you look at the levels we have here, the highest level in the UAE is not the highest level in the world as 180, as a player ranked 180, for example. So if we're going to have a player who's ranked like that and then not want the others to grow, we're gonna have a player who's ranked like that and then not want the others to grow, we're not gonna grow I mean, it was I think last year it was january 2023 myself and a few other clubs, we tried to put together this like the idea of an interclub, yeah, where all the clubs would compete against each other.
Speaker 1:We trialed it with six clubs, I think at the time, obviously as a voluntary basis. There was no money involved, there was no prizes. The issue we faced and we did two seasons of this the issue we faced was a lack of maturity of the players. So there was categories. We had a beginner category, an intermediate category and an advanced category, and every single encounter you'd play always against a different club. One of the teams would find a way to go around the rules and put a really strong team or someone, someone never met, and then they end up destroying them and winning just for the sake of the ego of winning that encounter right, and obviously then the other teams would complain and it created a whole negative thing. And it came from a very sincere and honest place to help the community and do something to benefit everybody, and it's something that I would love to get up and running again and maybe it's something that we can discuss and work on together, but I'm genuinely afraid that we will encounter that same issue.
Speaker 2:So the issue of leveling or having people sneak in I mean, this has been happening since 2022. It's been happening where a lot of people have been. I mean, everyone knows this, but a lot of people have been trying to steal other lower levels by sneaking in and winning them. Regardless, everyone gets caught. And then there's another thing where? So there's a new system.
Speaker 2:Sami is developing the WPPR, which is like a rating system. This could be used definitely not to give an estimate of the rating and then to set a specific rating for each category. Now, the thing is, you will have to disqualify if someone is out of their level, of course, and people just have to accept it, because I understand where you're coming from. But let's say now, let's say, you set a certain level, right, you're always. Let's say, you're a b level right now and I'm a c plus, and we're, there's always going to be someone slightly higher than the other. Yeah, so in reality, also, when it comes like this is a very long discussion or argument people have, but you're never going to have people in the same category, the same level. So, for example, you can have people the a category players who play the uepa 100. You can have a an easy win by a certain team. But they they're all A levels. That doesn't mean one of them is a B or a team is a B. They're still top professional players.
Speaker 1:Even look at Premier Paddle, look at the first rounds of Premier Paddle. They're all professional paddle players and yet you have very easy scores in these first rounds until the quarterfinal, even sometimes semifinals. None of the matches are particularly competitive, but they're all competing at the same level and I do agree with you on this point. It's never going to. There's no such thing as a straight line of level, never. There's always going to be stronger and weaker, and that's just the way it is and that's competition.
Speaker 2:Exactly. I mean, I'm sorry, but I'm not comparing our levels here with the professionals, but you saw Tapia and Arturo lose to Chingoto and Galan I believe it was 6-1, 6-2, which is something you wouldn't even imagine. I didn't believe my eyes watching that match and I never want to watch it again because I love Tapia. But you're always going to have that level difference. However, if we apply the system, the rating system, when it comes to this tournament, with the set guideline, whichever it is for the league sorry I don't think there will be an issue.
Speaker 1:I think this will help it because sorry, yeah, I mean, if it's data-driven, like with the system, I think it's going to be helpful than the subjective leveling that we have currently. It's like me saying to you ah, mohammed, you're a B player. Or someone else might say, mohammed, you're a C plus player, someone might say you're a B plus player, and then everyone has a different opinion and it's very hard to level based on subjective Someone will say oh, you're A, but not.
Speaker 2:You know, it will keep. It will always have a different range. It will always have. Someone will look at you as an A. They will look at you as a C. Someone else will look at you as a C plus.
Speaker 1:Then you go to Spain and you're a D. I wish you were a D.
Speaker 2:I wish I was a D there.
Speaker 1:You mentioned Premier Paddle. Who is your favorite Premier Paddle player?
Speaker 2:Definitely Tapia, why To me, regardless of what I've heard from multiple of my friends, tapia is the Roger of paddle For me. The way I saw Roger is the way I see Tapia. He makes it look so easy. Like you see Tapia smash, you think you can replicate that, but then your ball doesn't even reach the net or barely goes out. And if it goes once or twice, he can do it 20 times and the other pros struggle to do that. His style, his decision-making, he's just so smart on the court compared to the other players. You don't see him engaged with activities different than padel. He's just so focused on his career. His energy, his energy on court is compared to the other players. He's so clean. He's so clean on the court and that's the only person I've seen in the padel tour. He's the cleanest I've seen and that's just that type of class. You know, you've only seen it with Roger. You haven't seen it with any other player.
Speaker 1:He does maintain a level of professionalism on court that you don't see in a lot of paddle players. They're very erratic A lot of them.
Speaker 2:they get very angry and you see a lot of attitude on court as well, and they of them, they get very angry and you, yes, you see a lot of attitude on court and they say stuff. They say stuff. A lot of them have said stuff towards players on the court where the referee have has given them warnings. I mean, there was a match, tapia, arturo versus lebron and galan. I think it was in paraguay or peru I'm not paraguay I believe basically, when they won the match and then there was an issue with the ref, yeah, and I'm sorry, the way Tapia controlled himself and led Arturo on that court and they lost the second set and then they won the third. The final it was just, I don't know how to describe it, but that's one of the main reasons I respect this guy so much.
Speaker 1:I mean, the game professionally has changed a lot as well, right, I mean we're kind of seeing it now. I don't know if, when you started playing in 2014, you were following professional paddle at the time or not uh, during that time I used to love bella.
Speaker 2:I knew no one but bella and juan martin diaz I mean they were dominating everything at the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I feel bad for them because, through no fault of their own, they've reached an age where they're retiring, when paddle is literally booming. It's such a sad thing to see such great players not really benefiting from the development. Obviously they've been a part of the development, but they're not benefiting from the development of the sport. And this new generation I mean of tapia and these guys, even if they're not in the early 20s, they have such a golden age of paddle ahead of them that I believe they couldn't even have imagined at that time, growing up in argentina or in spain, to think this is what paddle would be in 2024.
Speaker 2:I don't think it would be that way in anyone's wildest dreams no, and then then you can say, like I can see Bella completely different than Juan Martin, the way he's continued rather than retired. He announced 2024 will be his last year, but he has his paddle centers, he has his official product or merchandise. So I don't know how that's going for him, but I saw a report I think it was a year back this is off topic of Bella, but bubble at announced that the sales of their paddle equipment have exceeded the tennis equipment. Was it bubble art? I think it was bubble at. I really bubble at. Or Wilson, what?
Speaker 1:do they have an insane market share in tennis? Yeah, but you see how paddle is growing everywhere and also, you break a paddle racket every three months. They don't last. You don't break a tennis racket unless I've had the same head radical since 2001.
Speaker 2:You break a tennis string. Yeah, so that's another thing. But uh, I mean, the future of the sport is definitely getting there. It's growing in America. Thank God that has happened, because we've been waiting for that for the Americans to get into padel, because America is huge. And then I heard also that it's growing in China. That'll be a big one. So that should be a big one. Yes, because apparently they're very enthusiastic about racket sports, squash, badminton. But let's see if that picks up over there, it will go well if it does.
Speaker 1:I think it's interesting how the US, how they do major sports, so they do this whole franchise model and then they make teams. So even in paddle they've made teams, so it's team encounters, whereas obviously I mean premier paddle, it's an individual double sport. Right, you're not playing for a team. I think it's a really interesting way of of doing that, and do you think that's something that could work here? Uh, having a league, you mean, yeah, having like mini franchises see, uh.
Speaker 2:So, for example, we haven't exactly like you said. You had that league of six clubs, but then there was a club tournament which was held by, organized by match spot and held in sports hub, so that had a great result. If you go back back to it, that wasn't a league, it was a tournament, it was a one-day event right A weekend, a weekend, so you could say a four-day event, because I think it had qualification rounds.
Speaker 2:That had a great effect. I recall the final had a lot of people attending. It was fully packed, obviously not the size of NAS, but it was packed. It was a lot of people attending. It was fully packed, obviously not the size of Nass, but it was packed. It was a revival at that time and so I do. This is the point I was going back. When I want to see a league, it's similar to the one you just mentioned. I think that needs to be endorsed or at least kick-started here. But do you?
Speaker 1:think people have the loyalty to the clubs here.
Speaker 2:Well see, honestly, when it comes to that, I can't speak on behalf of people, but for me, for sure, I can say yes, so I can't speak on behalf of people right, I mean WPA runs in your veins Pretty much.
Speaker 1:you've been there since day one.
Speaker 2:It's orange and blue here, it's not red. You know that, max.
Speaker 1:What do you think makes WPA such a great club?
Speaker 2:In the sense of WPA, will offer you an academy in order, if you want to compete or if you want to train at a competitive level. They will offer you academy training with different levels in order for you to competitively level up. All right, that's one major point. Another major point is uh will offer you different social matchmakings, different uh group matchmakings also, if you're looking for that, and then you have the different tournaments which they host.
Speaker 2:Another thing WPA has a vision where they don't just want to stay here. For example, you have a branch you can reach WPA in Khor Fakkan, which is like close to Fijera. You can reach it in Sharjah if you're in Sharjah, and then you can reach it in Dubai, if you're in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and then now let's leave the UAE you can reach it in Bahrain soon and then you can reach it in the UK soon. So WPA has this hidden message of where they want to support and grow the sport internationally, besides domestically. They do want to grow the sport. They have invested so much, they have supported so much, they have hosted so many large events which bring the people together to compete in a friendly way. For me I mean for me individually WPA means a lot. It's very hard to describe, honestly.
Speaker 1:WPA was one of the first indoor clubs in the UAE right and since WPA opened everyone has been looking towards wpa and copying a lot of what they've done and they've been the benchmark for a lot of the clubs that have opened after them because, as you mentioned, there has been a lot of big tournaments have been there. They were some of the first to bring at the time, world paddle tour players to the venue. Um obviously invest a lot of money into the, into their coaches having great coaches and into the academy and obviously a lot of focus on on the ua national players as well and the future of the game as well with the juniors. Are you involved in the in the juniors as well? In what sense are you helping them? Are you coaching them? Are you teaching them your tricks?
Speaker 2:so obviously I never over, never overstep the coaches because I'm not as experienced as they are, so I'll never intervene with a coach or I'll never disagree with a coach. But do I play with the juniors? Yes, as much as I can If they ask me for a game or to participate with them in a tournament for a game or to participate with them in a tournament when they ask me to join my training. I've done so many. I've had a lot of sessions with juniors, a lot of training sessions with juniors, and so I try as much as I can from my end. Do I coach them? No, do I play tournaments with them? Do I allow them to enter my training sessions? Yes, for sure, and I would always say yes to that as long as I don't have anything at the time, because I mean they are the future.
Speaker 1:Right, they are the future, the growth of the sport and they are looking up to people like yourself, and even if you're not coaching them on court with a basket, you're mentoring them, you're having an influence on them and you know they're learning from you on court, be that in the coaching sessions that they're participating with you or the matches that they play with you as well. I mean, we're always looking to emulate those that are a bit older and those that have have gone before us yeah, of course for that.
Speaker 2:You always try to set the best example for yourself and then for whoever actually follows or looks, because you are the first generation of paddle players in the UA.
Speaker 1:That's quite cool.
Speaker 2:It is definitely. I mean, obviously, with all the support which came from the community, from the Federation, the Academy, from WPA, the amount of trainings. I mean on court, off court of court, meaning the gym, or even the, the camps. Let me say also the tournaments I have traveled for with the backing of my club, which is is WPA. So that's been great and I'm more than grateful, more than blessed. Honestly, this is something I used to dream of at the time where no one knew about the sport and I just wanted to travel and compete. And then for me, individually at least, wpa made that dream a reality for me. You might think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. I mean the amount of training, from the paddle training and then the gym, and then the physio care. When I had my injury I tore my hamstring, so from zero to 100, they've taken care of me in every step and even when I wouldn't have something to speak about, someone would reach out and make sure that I'm not missing anything.
Speaker 1:That's amazing, the support that you get, and I think it's great and that's how the sport is going to grow. When do you think we will see a UAE national in the top 100 of Premier Panel?
Speaker 2:So in the top 100, so see, technically speaking I think, fares and Abdullah. They got Fares and Janahi and Abdullah and Abdullah. I think they reached 170 in the World Paddle Tour in the last year of it because they were awarded the wild card to participate in the Abu Dhabi World Paddle Tour In the top 100, it would require that player to be full time and to be living abroad to be very difficult, because I think the highest ranking of a GCC player till date is Mohamed Saadoun, which is 122. And that's with him participating in almost every tournament he can. So I believe in the next year, if we have a UAE national who is backed to compete throughout a year or a season, we can see that for sure, you think, as soon as this year, no, by the end of 2025, if we have a player starting the season in 2025 and training abroad majorly or living abroad as a professional, I think for sure we can see someone in the top 100, of course.
Speaker 1:That would be amazing to see.
Speaker 2:Yes, because comparing a professional with a UAE national who is working and then at the same time playing, so it makes a big difference. That time of rest, that time of training, that makes a big gap. So it would be amazing and I believe it's possible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because all of you guys in the UAE national team, you have jobs, right? None of you are full-time paddle players.
Speaker 2:Yes, the only one who doesn't is Abdullah Al-Abdullah, but he's just turned 18 today.
Speaker 1:Time to get a real job. Time to get a real job.
Speaker 2:He's going to go to the military now. Oh really, yeah, how long is that now? Now it's 11 months, oh, okay, yeah, wasn't it longer? It was a year, and then it was a year and one month, and now it's back to 11, which is the current system.
Speaker 1:How is the experience of?
Speaker 2:military service. You learn a lot of new things. You discover a lot of strengths you didn't know about you had. It teaches you how to appreciate life. It teaches you how to be grateful for everything you have and that things are not what is that word? Things are not for granted. It teaches you how to take things not for granted. And, like I said, you learn a lot of things. You meet a lot of people. And, like I said, you learn a lot of things, you meet a lot of people. It's tough physically, mentally.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of mental tests you'll go through for yourself, meaning patience how to be patient and how to follow orders like you should in the military, because you're away from home right at that time. It's not like you go in the morning, you come back the evening you're sent away.
Speaker 2:you're sent away. So you're sent away for the first period is a month exactly. You'll be in the camp, you'll be making your own bed, you'll be washing your own toilet, you'll be cleaning your own room uh, cleaning around the barracks, and there's a lot of labor to it. So there's a lot of movement with heavy equipment, a lot of people struggle. You see a lot of people break at certain points. But all in all, I think it's a very good thing and I hope it continues. It's a very good building character building. Yeah, I think it's a very good thing and I hope it continues. It's a very good building character building.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's really interesting because obviously in a lot of European countries now we don't have military service anymore. There's not even one day of it. There used to be a day, and I think they even removed that and I think it's something really interesting and that could be very beneficial for especially, not children, but young adults at the age of 18. And I think it's something that maybe in Europe we should look at bringing back.
Speaker 2:No, it's very good. Honestly, for me it was a mind-opening experience. Like I said, I met so many new people, learned so many new things from the military aspect, from the personal aspect. All in all, it's great. Honestly, did you get to shoot guns, of course? Amazing. Yeah, see, that's nice.
Speaker 1:Did you go in a tank? I did. How was that?
Speaker 2:It's hard to describe, but scary yet cool at the same time. But it was cool, yeah. How many people can you fit inside a tank? Well, it depends. So you have so many different tanks out there. There are tanks you can carry from one person to five people, so it depends. It really depends on the type of tank, where it's from, how it's built.
Speaker 1:Yeah, fair enough. Yeah, slightly digressing away from the original topic of paddle, talking about tanks, but that's the beauty of these conversations is there's always little nuggets of information that you never thought you'd have. I know more about tanks now than I ever thought I would. Focusing on this part of the world, which country in the Arab world do you think has the most potential for paddle?
Speaker 2:The most potential to grow, you mean as a sport.
Speaker 1:Let's take it from the perspective of players.
Speaker 2:So currently, if you will look at the Arab world statistically as the last Arab tournament, egypt is the first. They won the tournament, so definitely they are the first in that and they're doing the best. Why do you think that is? Honestly, it's hard to say why. However, they do have ex-tennis players who were on the pro tour and non-tennis, non-pro tennis players, but, honestly, maybe the preparations they did were different compared to the arab, to the other arab countries. So, for example, I did see a video of an Egypt national team player playing a practice match against Stupa in a camp and, honestly, for you to just get a feeling of how Stupa is, that's on another level. So I think they did that camp before the World Cup qualifications. And going to a camp like that to be exposed to professional players is another level, honestly, rather than you training with the same players or the same level so I guess you guys obviously train a lot with each other and we do.
Speaker 2:However, when we had the GCC Cup, as I remember, the biggest difference maker at that time for us as players was that we played matches before the tournament by a week or two weeks, I believe, from Dubai and, honestly, from different clubs, so they weren't just from a certain specific club. And, for me personally, I'll always be grateful to every single one of them because, at a time where, individually, I was at a certain level, my interaction with them raised my level so much.
Speaker 1:Certain level my interaction with them raised my level so much, and that's that's how a higher level can give back. Yeah, definitely. How did they choose your partners in the gcc cup?
Speaker 2:so, when it comes to national team representation, uh, teams are always, or partners are always selected by the coach. So at that time in GCC Cup the one in Dubai for me I think my first match there was a match I played with Abdullah Al-Abdullah and I specifically asked to play with him, and the coach at the time was like okay, did you win the match? Yeah, we won the match.
Speaker 1:So then, it was a good decision. It was a good decision.
Speaker 2:That went well. And then the match after that. The coach asked me who do you prefer to play with? And I said whoever you think is better suited for me, I'll do my job and that's the most I can give you. And then he selected my partner for that match. And then, who did you play with? My cousin, hamad Al-Janahi? Did you win that match? We won. That was the championship match. Oh, that the deciding. Yeah, it was the second match. So the first match, abdullah and Omar won it. And then the second match, it was me and Hamid, and it went well. It went our way. Do you still play tennis? No, of course not. Don't insult me that way, max. Why? No, I don't, because I take paddles seriously. I enjoy paddles. I don't want to ruin my feeling when playing and for me personally, I lost interest in tennis when Roger started his downfall. I really lost my tennis passion or interest completely. I didn't.
Speaker 1:I don't enjoy watching tennis at all until now, until now until now, even Alcaraz has brought back a little bit of a spark.
Speaker 2:Oh, not at all not at all, like I'll see a spark when I see Novak or Nadal, sometimes on the court. Novak of Nadal, sometimes on the court. Novak, of course, because he's regardless of what people say. Statistically he is the GOAT. 24 Grand Slams, respect, but no, it's just not entertaining anymore, Even in Dubai Open I went to see this year. I was so bored. I was so bored.
Speaker 1:My struggle with tennis and I kind of lost an interest at the same time, as you was. Obviously you're very attached to a player, right? For example, federer, I'm watching him since I was a kid throughout my whole life. Once he started to obviously go a little bit down, I lost interest. And then you don't have that connection with any of the players.
Speaker 1:And I felt the same way with paddle as well. Originally, because I don't know who these people are. You have no idea who these people are hitting the ball on the court. But once you start getting into their stories and everything that's happened to them and their performances, you kind of get attached as well. And I was reading about Dineno and how he was in a car crash and he was told he wouldn't be able to walk and now he's back to playing paddle at the highest level and that's a great story, right, everyone loves a great story and you, you feel for the guy and then you, you feel emotionally invested in their success. Of course do you? Do you feel that way about any of the players?
Speaker 2:uh, why I have selected tapia? Because he's young and I believe he will continue for a certain amount of years. Because before that I did kind of have that connection with Bella. I loved watching Bella play. But then Tapia like I know about Danino's story, I've sat with his dad, great guy. But I do feel like I kind of had that have that connection with Tapia I do follow a lot. I do watch all of his videos. Previously when he was young and the injury he went through when he first signed with Knox at a certain age I think he was 19 or 18 and just turned 18 he had a major ankle injury which took him off tour for like three, four months and then he just rose back like like crazy, he just rose so high after that injury.
Speaker 1:Maybe that got me attached after that story do you think that korea and Tampere will finish number one this year? Yes, we will see how well this ages. Let's see. I'll wait. Time is on your side. In the UAE, like I mentioned before, we obviously have a lot of great clubs now In your opinion. I'm not going to ask you which is the best club. What makes a good paddle club? You know my answer yeah, paddle art. I know it's fine, you don't have to say it, but in your opinion, what makes a successful paddle club?
Speaker 2:Honestly, besides the management, which is the heroes behind, behind the success, you see, of every organization, the management of the club then comes the community within which participates at the club. So you have so many successful clubs which offer different, uh, different facilities. Okay, and a lot of them have a different quality of facility. Okay, however, for me personally, is the management of the club and how they treat the people who are the regulars. That's, that's what makes the success of the club, which a lot of people don't see.
Speaker 1:Obviously, and it's interesting that you bring that up you, you didn't mention the height of the club, which a lot of people don't see, obviously, and it's interesting that you bring that up, you. You didn't mention the height of the court, you didn't mention if they have an ice bath, you didn't mention the cryotherapy and these kind of things where I feel like in this part of the world we get so drawn into all of the shiny lights and obviously it's important, but that's not the success.
Speaker 2:No, for me personally, it's not how fancy the club is or how expensive this court, or if there is a pillar made out of wood or something fancy. It's not that. Yes, it's great for certain clubs which offer the ice bath or the sauna, which is an added value, of course, which not everyone uses. Let's not forget that. Also, you have certain facilities which charge you for that, or certain clubs would charge you extra for that, which deprives people from using. For example. For me, I believe if a club were to have those facilities, it should be complementary with the court usage or part of the club package at least. But then again, it's not my decision.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like I said, for me it's the management, the way they control and manage everything, and then the community which is within the club if someone was to come to you today and say, muhammad, I've got two million dollars, let's open a paddle club in dubai, regardless, obviously of you know, wpa and everything else, would you do it? Would you open a paddle club today in dubai?
Speaker 2:uh, yeah, of course. I mean honestly you, there is a club which launched two months ago and there is a club which launched a month ago and all of them are doing great. I mean, in every business line you would see certain outlets close and then certain outlets open up. If a certain outlet closes, it doesn't mean there's something wrong with that industry. So if a coffee shop closes, does that mean coffee is out of business? Let's all go to matcha. No, please don't go to matcha Max. Please don't drink matcha.
Speaker 1:I hate matcha Good, I cannot stand it, I cannot even taste it.
Speaker 2:It's very normal to see a certain club close and a certain club open. Very normal to see a certain club close and a certain club open. So, of course, yes, and I do hear a lot that there's new clubs opening up within the area, which I believe is very good also.
Speaker 1:At the same time, yeah, and there's also clubs closing, which is sad and unfortunate, especially in the other Emirates. But that is part of business and as the sport grows, people tend to be drawn towards the bigger, the more successful and the clubs that are providing them with the services that they're looking for. So some of those clubs do suffer a lot, them being outdoor clubs. Do you still play paddle outdoors?
Speaker 2:Well, last year we had the outdoor courts in WPA and during winter I requested for all my trainings to be outdoor because, regardless of the height of having no roof, the outdoor environment is so much more different than the indoor. So once you get adapted to the outdoor, for you to play indoor is so much easier. So I do prefer to play outdoor. However, in Dubai certain times you can't, so obviously during summer it's impossible to play outdoor now, but during winter, yes, I love playing outdoors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too. I think it's great. I mean, it is a bit more challenging. Obviously, you have the elements that come into play the wind, the sun, all these things but I think it adds a really interesting impact to the game. Whereas indoor you have this perfect environment impact to the game, whereas indoor you have this perfect environment which is almost a little bit sterile. So I think it's great, and a lot of the professional tournaments are still played outdoors as well the majors are mostly held outdoors.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, and then it takes a. It takes a big effect, like you mentioned the perfect environment of the ac and all that and then you have the wind changing or the player needing to adapt. I think it was in Italy, if I'm not mistaken, where Tapia missed the ball and he was going for a smash and he just missed it completely. Yeah, he completely missed the ball Because of the wind, and that's something you would never see that happen indoors. That made me feel great, though, when he did that.
Speaker 1:Made me feel like he's normal too. I do have a little bit of Tapia in me. We all do so. Mohamed, you've had a great paddle career, let's say, for the last 10 years. Where do you see your personal paddle journey going in the next few years?
Speaker 2:Honestly, I've never thought about it in that way. Uh, I take each, each challenge as it comes. So, for example, like I said, this is what we're living now is something I couldn't even imagine in the sense of the community, the amount of clubs, the competitions, the level we have risen to. So, for me obviously the only like for me as part of WPA I look forward to the new opening in Bahrain, which will be soon, and then I look forward to the new opening in the UK. I can't wait for that so we can have that grand opening and visit. So, for example, I've never been to the UK and this will be a reason for me to go for the opening of WPA.
Speaker 1:Do you think paddle will take off in the UK?
Speaker 2:Honestly it should because I mean tennis is off in the UK. Honestly it should Because I mean tennis is huge in the UK. There's a lot of good tennis players. So I believe it should. In that sense it should, and I've heard the clubs currently in the UK are similar to how when paddle started in Dubai, all clubs are fully booked. You would have to book two weeks ahead because of the lack of indoor courts and the growth which they should see right now. So I think it will pick up in the uk for sure I hope so.
Speaker 1:I mean it's getting there. A lot of the people have spoken to the uk about paddle and who those who are trying to open paddle courts and and clubs. They're struggling a lot with permits and finding the right location the sealy heights. One of the greatest things about the ua is that it's very easy to do business here. You can pretty much do whatever you want and within reason and quickly. You can set up a business relatively quickly, whereas in the uk getting anything done is a nightmare, which is why everything takes two to three to four to ten more years than the more it does here, and I think that's how the ua has managed to capitalize on. The success of paddle is being so responsive and facilitating things for all of the entrepreneurs and people wanting to invest in this sport in this country uh, yeah, I mean before I don't think you had any paddle club in our course and then once the green light was given for that.
Speaker 2:I don't have the numbers, but I would say we have a minimum of 30 clubs in Al-Quds I counted about a year ago.
Speaker 1:In a three-kilometer radius from exactly where we are, there's over 100 paddle courts. There you go, but what was in?
Speaker 2:Al-Quds before paddle. Well, in most paddle clubs warehouses you would have had a stockpile of, depending where it was rented to, whoever was renting that warehouse, and then they converted it to a paddle club. See, you had gyms at the time, but a paddle club is different than a gym. So when that permit came out, because of the residential areas around Al-Quds, so it made it so prime the amount of people who live around Al-Quds.
Speaker 1:It's true when you go to the other Emirates or even other countries in the region. This is perfect for paddle. You have this area in the middle of the city with residential areas. People are living 10, 15, maybe 20 minutes away and they can all get to this central paddle location, this paddle heaven yeah, definitely, uh, that makes a big.
Speaker 2:It makes a big, uh difference. I mean, don't forget al-Quds, or the area we're in right now is mostly a commercial area, right For companies to make it easy for business to send out or receive supply and products, so for it to have Paddle in the middle of everything. I mean you can connect someone between Sharjah and Abu Dhabi and they would come here for a tournament. So I have a friend who comes here three times a week for padel from Abu Dhabi and he drives and it's fine for him Because once he reaches this area at least there's so many other clubs he can go to and play different matches.
Speaker 1:It's true. Whereas even Abu Dhabi, all of the clubs are mostly in Musafah, which is a little bit further out of the city in terms of accessibility.
Speaker 2:It's not quite the same as having this area, such as we have in Dubai. So when it comes to Abu Dhabi, honestly I don't know about the other clubs, but I know that, for example, speaking for WPA, recently we launched in 321 Island, hudariyat. So it's like an indoor facility and there's like five, six courts If I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure about the amount of courts, but it's on the island and it's close to the city. So I visited the area and it's beautiful. The courts are nice. It's so much easier than going to Musafah because of the traffic. And how is that club performing? It's doing very well. So there's a couple of coaches there and they're doing their programs, their socials or their tournaments, weekly tournaments, and it's doing nice. It's doing well.
Speaker 2:Sorry, the area is very nice. Right next to it there's like a restaurant outlet. It's like similar to Last Exit. There's like a drive-through area and then there's a beach area. There's a hotel or a resort you could go to. So it's a perfect location for a paddle getaway, like you would go there and take your room on the beach, play your paddle or do your sports and then relax in your hotel. Location-wise, it's beautiful. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:Because I've heard a lot of the clubs have been struggling in Abu Dhabi, so it's great to see that some clubs are succeeding.
Speaker 2:There are multiple clubs. I mean I follow them on Instagram. They're doing well in Abu Dhabi. I mean it's growing in Abu Dhabi. I do follow up. I see a lot of tournaments happening, a lot of socials. It's different than Dubai, but it is growing. It's also a different demographic, exactly.
Speaker 1:And that makes the biggest difference? I guess, yeah, in Abu Dhabi it is a lot of locals and emirates right, whereas here you have a a lot bigger expat population playing paddle and competing. We see it especially in the mornings. For example, we're pretty busy in the mornings with expats. You know work from home or they drop off the kids at school. They come and play paddle.
Speaker 2:In abu dhabi there's no one playing in the morning so honestly, like for dubai, I can speak and say, yeah, I agree 100% with what you're saying. But abu dhabi, I haven't really entered that area to see, you know, during those timings. But in dubai, yeah, alhamdulillah, we do have that.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's the biggest advantage which I love, and, on a closing note, if you were to say something to the people who've been listening to us have this amazing conversation for the past hour, who were curious about the UAE, curious about paddling the UAE, if you could change their mind, a lot of people don't want to come to Dubai. Really, you know, a lot of people don't like Dubai because in the press, dubai has a terrible reputation in the UK. I don't know if you're aware of the amount of. Are you serious? Unbelievable.
Speaker 1:Even my grandparents. They hate the UAE. I see a lot of people from the UK moving to Dubai recently, yeah, but there's so much hate, people going to jail and people think there's some really bad stuff going on.
Speaker 2:Look, I'll say this. It's very simple. In Dubai, there are certain rules which everyone has to follow and then, within those rules and guidelines, if you're following the rules, you can do whatever you want within the rules, and everyone is protected legally. Everyone is protected by the law. Everyone is protected legally. Everyone is protected by the law. Uh, I mean I'm sorry, max, if I took a photo of you without your approval or consent, you can take me to court and you would win that easily because you're protected by the law. Uh, I mean, you could go to a coffee shop and leave out your phone on the. You can leave your wallet. You can leave your phone with cash. You can leave your wallet with cash and your phone on the desk, and I mean right now.
Speaker 1:My car is open, the keys are in my car and it's always the same wherever I go, my front door is open.
Speaker 1:Actually I shouldn't say that in case anybody wants to go to my apartment but it's protected because the security wouldn't allow anyone to of course, and it makes me laugh when I go back to europe and there's still people to this day who tell me oh, you live in Dubai, do you feel safe? And you haven't been to the UK, right? No, go to the UK. Go outdoors in a city after dark. You will not feel safe, especially in the major cities. I feel so safe in Dubai. I love it here. I'm happy here. I'm not just saying this because you're here. It here, I'm happy here. I'm not just saying that's because you're here, but I think dubai is one of the safest places on earth.
Speaker 2:I mean, I've seen the videos where phone snatching. And then I saw a video. It's a famous video. It's a guy driving a bugatti chiron which is, I think, worth like 16 million dirhams and someone drives next to him with a motorbike and starts smashing his window to steal his phone or his watch. In London, I mean, for me, I can't afford a.
Speaker 1:Bugatti, but that scares me and that will never happen here. If, when you can afford a Bugatti, drive it in Dubai. Yes, I'll keep it here, not in London. On that fine piece of advice, mohammed, thank you so much for spending the time with me. I look forward to having you back on the podcast again in the near future. I'm sure we'll have many, many things to discuss. Maybe we'll have started an inter-club together, a league of clubs. Let's make it happen.
Speaker 2:Let's do that, let's do that I think Badr needs that. He needs the clubs to compete in a healthy environment. It will result in a level increase. It will motivate the players to play more to compete in a healthy environment. I agree.
Speaker 1:I look forward to that happening, inshallah. Until next time, mohamed Inshallah.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Take care you too, thank you.