Pickleball: How a fledgling sport is scaling heights

The iconic Cricket Club of India in Mumbai, and its hallowed tennis courts where legends have set foot and celebrated Davis Cup tales scripted, was transformed.

- Rutvick Mehta

The handful of bright blue tennis courts had been dissected into mini courts that ran into double digits, flocked with a swamp of people with paddles in hand instead of racquets. The place gave Aryna Sabalenka, the top-ranked women's singles tennis professional, one of her earliest moments of glory as a WTA champion seven years ago.

Now the town got a taste of champion picklers.

The World Pickleball Championship (WPC) concluded in Mumbai on Sunday. The five-day tournament, part of the global WPC Series that India hosted for the first time, had over 500 participants across various categories and levels (amateur and pro). Picklers across ages took their chance at the event.

However, for around 75 players, about one-fourth Indians and the rest flying down from 18 countries, this is serious business. They are professional pickleball players who make a living out of a sport that, not too long ago, was looked at simply as a game of leisure.

In a sport that is growing at a rapid pace around the globe, these professional picklers are increasingly finding their space and tapping into its vogue. Pickleball might still be more a game for the masses; easy to pick up and cost effective, it could be played on any indoor or outdoor hard surface. But the professional touch to it is as much on the upswing as its popularity. And that's happening in India too.

Professional pathTwo years ago, the All India Pickleball Association (AIPA), the governing body for the sport in the country, had close to 8,000 player registrations across India. That figure now stands between 30,000 and 40,000, said AIPA president Arvind Prabhoo. The association conducts the national championships, four national ranking tournaments and several state, zonal and inter-zonal events throughout the year.