Monday, 11 May 2026: The highest level of professional padel ever staged in Ireland will take place this summer as the FIP Silver R3 Bullpadel Cup - NI Open heads to Belfast from 1–5 July.
Hosted at Padel54 in Moira, the tournament marks the first time Northern Ireland has staged a professional padel event and forms part of the official CUPRA FIP Tour, the International Padel Federation’s global circuit.
The FIP Silver category tournament will feature men’s and women’s draws, world ranking points and €18,000 in prize money, with international players ranked inside the world’s top 100 expected to compete alongside leading Irish players and top European competitors.
Qualification rounds begin on 1 July, with the main draw starting on 3 July before finals day on Sunday 5 July.
The Belfast event also forms part of the 2026 R3 Bullpadel Cup Leaderboard, where players accumulate points across the season in pursuit of a £25,000 end-of-year prize pot shared between the top five players.
The event continues the rapid expansion of the R3 Bullpadel Cup series, which has already staged high-level events in Stratford and Exeter during 2026, as part of a wider strategy to build professional padel infrastructure and competitive pathways across the UK and Ireland.
Padel has experienced significant growth across Ireland in recent years, with new venues and player participation rising sharply as the sport expands beyond its traditional European strongholds.
Sam Kemp, Managing Director of Operations, Tournaments & Events at R3 Sport, said:
“Padel is growing rapidly across Northern Ireland and Ireland, and Padel54 has been at the forefront of that development with a high-quality venue and a really engaged local community.
“Bringing a FIP Silver tournament to Northern Ireland is an important step because it introduces professional, world-ranking competition to a market where the sport is still developing at pace.
“This is a strong international-level event, which we expect will attract leading Irish players alongside top European and global talent. For us, Padel54 was the right partner and the right venue to help bring that standard of professional padel to Northern Ireland for the first time.”
Bradley Bate (Padel54) on the left, Sam Kemp (R3 Sports) on the right
Bradley Bate, co-owner of Padel54, said:
“Padel has experienced incredible growth on the island of Ireland over the last number of years and there is a real appetite for high-level competition and major sporting events.
“When we opened Northern Ireland’s first dedicated padel facility, our aim from the outset was to grow the sport locally, develop players’ abilities and create a venue capable of hosting padel at the highest possible standard.
“We are delighted to host the FIP Silver R3 Bullpadel Cup - NI Open and give local players the opportunity to experience world-class padel on their doorstep for the very first time. This is a landmark moment for Padel54 and for the growth of the sport here.”
About R3 Sport
R3 Sport is a professional padel organisation operating across athlete management, tournaments and performance pathways within the UK and internationally. Through the R3 Bullpadel Cup series and its growing elite roster, R3 is focused on raising competitive standards, supporting British and Irish players on the international stage and building long-term structures within the professional game.
R3 Sport operates as part of the wider VVV Sports group, a next-generation sports, media and entertainment company focused on building infrastructure, events and commercial opportunities across emerging global sports including padel, pickleball and emerging racquet sports.
