Sen. Pia Cayetano, pinangunahan ang Philippine Open 2024

Transcript

00:00The first day of the Philippine Open 2024 was a success

00:04as the new sport of padel was introduced to the country.

00:08This is what Bernadette Ninoy reported.

00:1370 athletes participated in the start of the Philippine Open 2024,

00:18one of the new padel tournaments in the country.

00:20Padel Pilipinas President and Senator Pia Caetano led the action on the first day

00:25where she gave the importance of the strength of the sport of padel

00:29and to the Filipinos.

00:31As a sports advocate for many years,

00:34I really have seen how sports have grown and how sports have died.

00:39I've seen sports die and get resurrected.

00:42According to Head Coach Brian Casao,

00:44it's easy to learn the sport of padel

00:46and the Philippines will not become a padel powerhouse in the future.

00:50Padel is a mix of tennis and squash.

00:52That's why we have the glass ball and the turf and a tennis ball.

00:59So, mainly it was called padel before because when it started,

01:04they just used a wooden racket.

01:06Now, modernized rackets are made of, some of them are synthetic, carbon.

01:12Caetano also reiterated that padel is not only for the rich

01:16because they want to spread it to other regions.

01:19She also thanked the Philippine Olympic Committee

01:22for recognizing Padel Pilipinas as the official Padel Federation of the country.

01:27All my life, that's what I want to see.

01:29I don't want it to be just for the elite.

01:31I don't want it to be 20 years old and the sport is still not growing.

01:35So, I am ensuring that our whole group is conscious that we are inclusive to the beginners.

01:43There is also competition to the new padel learners.

01:47They also have inspiration to see the backs of the good ones.

01:52So, in that sense, it's very exciting.

01:55Aside from spreading padel as a sport,

01:58Padel Pilipinas also plans to strengthen the grassroots program throughout the country.

02:03Bernadette Pinoy for Pambansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.