{"id":18660,"date":"2026-10-28T18:03:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T17:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/cronica-de-kristin\/asia-enters-the-game\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T11:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T10:27:09","slug":"asia-enters-the-game","status":"publish","type":"cronica-de-kristin","link":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/cronica-de-kristin\/asia-enters-the-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia Steps onto the Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Late September, Japan. A Thai player walks onto the court. Two years earlier, in 2024, Natalie Bin Narkprasert suffered a serious knee injury. It took a relentless rehabilitation to bring her back to competition in 2025. And here she is, at the very first Asian Games in padel history.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know Natalie well; I have faced her across the net, and her portrait is among those featured by Padel for Ladies on Instagram. A few days after the Games, she found herself in Niseko, on the island of Hokkaido, facing Carolina Navarro and Luc\u00eda Sainz. On Instagram, she writes: \u201cGetting to play against legends like Carolina Navarro and Luc\u00eda Sainz, learning from them about how to improve my game and feeling the pressure of their shots on a golden point\u2026 truly a priceless experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

From an injured knee to the Asian Games, from the Games to the legends: Natalie\u2019s journey mirrors that of padel in Asia. It is moving fast, and it belongs more and more to women.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Natalie
Natalie Bin (in black, on the right) playing in a tournament against Carolina Navarro | Photograph by Natalie Bin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Asia Is No Longer Watching. It Is Playing.<\/b><\/h3>\n

The numbers are staggering. According to the International Padel Federation\u2019s World Padel Report 2026, Asia went from 1,713 clubs in 2025 to 3,221 in 2026. Almost double in a single year. Nearly four in ten new clubs opened worldwide were in Asia. Indonesia now ranks in the global top five by number of clubs, alongside Spain, Italy, Argentina and France.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nagoya, a First Written by Women<\/b><\/h3>\n

From 28 September to 3 October, padel made its debut at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. On home soil, Japan\u2019s Kae Tokumoto and Saki Tsukamoto won the first women\u2019s gold medal in the sport\u2019s history, defeating Indonesia\u2019s Fitriani Sabatini and Fadona Kusumawati. Before the final, Tokumoto summed up her philosophy: \u201cyou cannot win with power alone.\u201d A lesson many players know by heart<\/span><\/p>\n

Next stop: Riyadh, in December, for the Asian Indoor Games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Niseko, Passing It On<\/b><\/h3>\n

Right after Nagoya, the first APExCup brought together international champions and Asia\u2019s best players in Niseko, in a weekend of padel, food and music. Natalie was the only Thai player invited. She describes it as healing: after the pressure of the Games, a chance to enjoy padel again purely for the love of the game. Different countries, one shared passion; \u201cone big obsessed padel family,\u201d as she puts it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps this is the true sign of maturity. When legends come to pass on what they know. When local players dare to take them on. When we play to win, and then to find each other again.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Comes Next?<\/b><\/h3>\n

I am writing these lines from Vietnam. Here, padel is taking root quietly. A women\u2019s community is growing, and players are arriving from pickleball with their curiosity intact. Nothing spectacular. And yet this is exactly how it all began in Spain, in Portugal, everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every two months, I will take you onto these Asian courts. To meet the women who play, who coach, who organise. Those no one sees yet. And those everyone will soon be watching.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kristin Kirsch, founder of Padel for Ladies<\/a><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Late September, Japan. A Thai player walks onto the court. Two years earlier, in 2024, Natalie Bin Narkprasert suffered a serious knee injury. It took a relentless rehabilitation to bring her back to competition in 2025. And here she is, at the very first Asian Games in padel history. I know Natalie well; I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"tipo-contenido":[],"class_list":["post-18660","cronica-de-kristin","type-cronica-de-kristin","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cronica-de-kristin\/18660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cronica-de-kristin"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cronica-de-kristin"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cronica-de-kristin\/18660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18883,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cronica-de-kristin\/18660\/revisions\/18883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tipo-contenido","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/padelinformacion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tipo-contenido?post=18660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}