Pablo Castells, a former lawyer turned consultant, has earned the title of “Pak Padel” for his pivotal role in popularising padel across Indonesia. With his padel origins dating back to Barcelona in the early 2000’s, the Spaniard, who was based in India for 10 years, found himself stuck in Bali during the COVID-19 pandemic, which set him on a mission to grow the game on the island and beyond. Through his company, INDOPADEL, he has been instrumental in establishing clubs in Bali and Jakarta and has ambitious plans for further expansion within Indonesia and India.
India vs Indonesia
As a Spanish expat living in India for a decade, Pablo Castells had to make peace with the lack of padel on offer. Despite his efforts, including showing up at tennis clubs with his padel racket, the locals were just not interested in giving the sport a shot (how this has changed now). He found that everyone was far more invested in the likes of badminton and cricket, and that the idea of a new sport was just too far-fetched. Despite this, Castells’ persistence prevailed and he stuck it out for 10 years, working in the country as a consultant for Spanish/LATAM companies and NGO’s looking to form roots in Asia. Towards the end of this time, he managed to get some padel to be played, and began organising tournaments, the first of which taking place in Bangalore in 2018.
As 2020 came about, so did the global pandemic, bringing the world to a stop overnight. For Castells, however, what first looked like a disaster ended up being a blessing in disguise, a narrative of the pandemic that’s become so familiar as the time has passed. Stuck in Bali, well “happily stuck” as he describes it, left him in search of a new challenge. With a large population of other Spaniards on the island at the time, he had finally found himself some fellow padel enthusiasts.
Speaking to Castells earlier this month, he said “I started growing the sport amongst the Spanish people living in Bali and remained here because of COVID. I was fortunate in that I discovered the first padel court built in Asia, 23 years ago, in the South of Bali – it was a real old-fashioned type of court – and then I introduced padel to some Indonesians who used to play badminton and noticed that it was really striking a chord between the foreign community and locals.”
Growth and Popularity
It was this development that marked the birth of padel in Indonesia – four years ago, at the start of 2021. And it’s because of this that the Spaniard has adopted the nickname of “Pak Padel” (or Mr Padel), and swiftly became known asIndonesia’s pioneer of padel.
It was in 2021 that Pablo founded the Bali Padel Club and organised the first tournament in Indonesia, with participants from 8 different countries. From here the sport has grown across the Island and country more broadly.
To quantify ’the Castells impact’ (let’s call it), since 2021 over 20 clubs have opened, primarily in Bali, with a handful in Jakarta. Bali, with its influx of sport-lifestyle focused tourists, has lent itself perfectly to the uptake of padel and, so, quickly became a hotspot for the sport. Sensing this, and after playing futsal, Castells himself saw the potential to turn the space into an indoor padel facitily. With five courts now installed, the venue has become the home for padel on the island. Located between the tourist and local areas in Denpasar, the largest city on the island, the club has encouraged participation throughout all societal layers. A key part of Pablo’s mission is to foster growth and engagement across all segments of the Balinese community, ensuring padel is accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial situation.
Indo Padel and Padel For Them
Following a call from the Spanish embassy in Jakarta who were looking to open a padel court in a local sports club, Pablo saw the potential to launch a consultancy business helping to develop the game in the region, namely Indo Padel. Since then, Indo Padel has grown the game to new heights and helped to secure Indonesia’s position as the padel capital of Asia.
Another project closely aligned with this is “Padel For Them”, a community-focused initiative dedicated to making the game accessible to everyone, regardless for background, age or financial situation. It has been inspirational, particularly in Bali and has had momentous impacts on popularising the sport across all levels of society on the island.
Past Challenges and Future Goals
“To build the respect for the sport, sharing experience and passion, whilst making padel affordable for all”
The words of Castells, for whom this has always been the challenge at hand. Has it been achieved? Well, arguably yes. There are 20 clubs across the country with five more on the way in Bali alone. Bali is officially the “padel mecca” of Asia, with the sport having fast gained the respect of locals and visitors alike, and no-one expects its growth to stopanytime soon.
So, if this has already been achieved, then what is next for Pablo Castells and Indo Padel? Well, of course, Indonesia is by no means a finished project. The country is far more than just a tourist hotspot and capital city, in fact it is a compilation of 17,506 islands. For the former lawyer, the aim is to roll out a similar project across other locations across the country, and with his ever-growing expertise and commitment, there is little doubt of further success .
Beyond this, Castells still has goals to help with the development of padel back in his original Asian home of India, a country with a population of a mere 1.4 billion, and which is on the verge of taking to padel in a big way in the coming years with Bollywood stars, IPL cricketers and members of Indian high society already taking to the sport. As the most populous country in the world, the scope for growth in India cannot be overstated, and with the support of Indo Padel, the country is set to see the damn burst over the coming decades.