Sport
Qatar’s padel gold medallists offer inspiration to Aspire Academy student-athletes
By Sports Reporter
Doha
Qatar’s gold-medal-winning padel players Rashed and Mashari Nawaf took time to visit Aspire Academy and offer its grade 12 student-athletes guidance on what it takes to become a champion.
The brothers won gold at the recent Asian Games in Japan as padel made its debut at the continental event.
The duo, who were invited as part of the Academy’s Leadership Development Programme, took part in a question-and-answer session with the student-athletes.
Among the insights the former tennis players offered were words of inspiration and tips on how the student-athletes can take the next steps towards competing at the highest levels.
Rashed thanked Aspire Academy for the invite and encouraged the student-athletes to take a close look at all aspects of their lifestyle and training to identify areas they can change to boost performance on the court.
"To make the step to win the gold medal, Mashari and I actually realised that if we modified a few things we could move to another level,” he said.
"So we changed our food and nutrition, our sleep and rest patterns and ultimately our overall training schedule.”
"My advice to the Aspire Academy student-athletes is to look at the whole process and identify any small areas that can be changed that will lead to enhanced performances.”
For his part Mashari highlighted the psychological side of playing sport.
"My message for them is always keep believing and no matter what, use any setbacks as motivation to improve in the future,” he added.
"Keep going, as you never know what the future holds. We were tennis players growing up and never imagined switching sports, and that step was honestly a big step for us, and it has proved to be the right decision.”
"Padel has changed our lives, but we always believed in ourselves, and success will come as long as you work hard.”
The brothers also urged Aspire Academy’s padel players to keep working hard so they can represent Qatar alongside them in the future.
"I know a lot of the players here at Aspire Academy; they are still young, and ultimately we want them to progress and develop so that they can play with us on the national team in the next few years,” Rashed insisted.
"If they dedicate themselves to this programme that Aspire Academy provides and continue working, they can achieve great things for Qatar.”
The brothers added that representing Qatar at the recent FIP (International Padel Federation) World Cup on home soil has made them more determined to continue developing and be able to challenge the world’s best players.
"It was a dream to play for Qatar at such a prestigious event and in front of our home support, and to win three matches was truly incredible,” Rashed said.
"Just seeing some of the world’s best was a privilege, and we took the time to learn a lot from the best players from Spain and Argentina. They really are on another level, but my brother and I are determined to be like them.”
Mashari added that playing at the event was a real inspiration for them to progress to the next level.
"Representing Qatar in such a big event was crazy,” he said.
"Playing in your home country is honestly a really good feeling; as you know, the fans are behind you.”
"It leaves you wanting more and even more determined to win medals for Qatar, and our hope is that we will be doing this alongside players developed and trained at Aspire Academy.”
The brothers will once again be playing on home soil as they compete at the FIP Bronze Qatar II tournament, from 12-15 November.
They will be joined in the draw by two Aspire Academy student-athletes: Hassan Waly, who will be partnered with Egypt’s Youssef Hossam, while Rayen Meknassi will play alongside Sandro Molina Romero from Spain.