Thai Padel Team Stranded as Flight Delayed Nearly 10 Hours
Thai padel team members heading to Japan for their Asian Games debut were stuck on a Thai Airways flight delayed nearly 10 hours due to radar repairs, with multiple postponements leaving them frustrated.
The Thai padel team is frustrated after their flight to Japan was delayed overnight, with the aircraft now nearly 10 hours behind schedule and still showing no sign of departure. Padel has been included in the Asian Games 2026 (Aichi-Nagoya 2026) competition for the first time. The team was scheduled to depart on September 26 at 00:05 on Thai Airways flight TG64, but the aircraft has been delayed for 10 hours. According to the latest information from the news team in contact with the padel team, the flight was originally scheduled to depart at 00:05, but after boarding at 02:35 and sitting on the aircraft, the captain announced that the radar was faulty and required repair until 05:30. Passengers were then instructed to wait in the airport lounge, with a new departure time set for 09:00. However, the flight has since been postponed again to 10:30. Besides the Thai padel team, the aircraft also carries Alex Eala, an 18th-ranked Filipino women's tennis player, and the Thai judo team. Thailand is sending a total of four padel athletes: in the men's category, Anop Rawoel and Stefano Mochola; in the women's category, Dareshwar Srirungruang and Natalie Nakpraserit. The competition will take place between September 28 and October 4 in Japan.
