24-hour padel club 'fantastic' during Ramadan

A Lancashire padel club open 24 hours on certain days to cater for its local Muslim community during Ramadan says it has seen "over a hundred" players come down in the early hours of the morning.

Pendle Padel Club, in Nelson, near Burnley in Lancashire, has decided to stay open all day on Fridays and Saturdays to welcome guests after Iftar, the meal taken to break the fast of daylight hours.

Atique Rehman, 37, said padel had become almost a daily routine after breaking his fast and visiting the mosque for evening prayer.

He added exercise was a key part of Ramadan, with Pendle Padel Club being "one of the best things to happen to Nelson".

Padel, first invented in Mexico in 1969, has in recent years surged in popularity across the UK, with numerous courts having sprung up.

Famous faces, including former footballer David Beckham and even French President Emmanual Macron, count themselves as fans.

For Rehman, padel offers an engaging and social pastime to complement his days during Ramadan.

"We typically break our fast at 18:10 GMT, you have your prayers, get ready for your evening prayers at the mosque, and then you come back and get ready for some padel.

"It's buzzing with vibes, the court was busy - it's like playing in the daytime," he said.

Despite the sport being physically demanding, with its small court and ability to bounce the ball off the surrounding walls, Rehman said some of his friends had even come and played games during the day.

Ryan Canning, manager of the club, which opened in August last year, said the inclusivity of the sport meant his clubhouse was busy all day long.

"Just this last weekend, we had over a hundred players between the hours of 00:00 and 04:00 GMT, it has been so brilliantly received," he said.

Canning added that before Ramadan, several regulars had advised him to stay open into the night.

it is something he says he would like to do again every year, based on the success of this year.

"For our late night bookings, we do have a large part of the Asian community come over and use our facilities.

"Padel is inclusive to everybody, you can have zero ball skills and yet it's easy to get started.

"It's unreal the amount of people who've played it for the first time and come back and said they've 'got the bug'." he said.

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