India’s Pickleball Future: 'Addictive, Inclusive, and Growing Rapidly'
India’s Pickleball Future: 'Addictive, Inclusive, and Growing Rapidly'
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India’s Pickleball Future: 'Addictive, Inclusive, and Growing Rapidly'

Rahul Sadhu 🕒︎ 2025-10-23

Copyright timesnownews

India’s Pickleball Future: 'Addictive, Inclusive, and Growing Rapidly'

Chennai is hosting India’s first-ever PWR 1000 pickleball event, the Rise Up Championship – Pickleball By The Bay 2025, and co-founder of PWR, Ashish Khanna, believes the landmark tournament reflects the sport’s rapid rise in the country. “Firstly, I would like to thank Chennai for holding this event. It’s a beautiful event and the way they have done the event is spectacular. It’s right on the sea, beautiful. It’s as good as a big international sporting event,” Khanna said, praising the setup at the VGP Golden Beach Resort. With nearly 100 top players competing, Khanna highlighted the quality on display: “We have got all the top players of India playing this event. It’s a closed draw event, and the quality of the sport has been fantastic. I just saw the semi-finals with the ladies — it was a great event.” On pickleball’s popularity, Khanna was clear that the surge is unstoppable. “The growth of pickleball has been phenomenal. And it’s not going to stop. It’s going to be exponentially rising. The number of courts started with a handful about five years ago, and now we’ve got multiple thousand courts in India. The number of people playing pickleball is increasing rapidly.” He believes the appeal lies in its accessibility. “I think it’s a new-age sport. People are looking for newer activities. The attraction of the sport has been phenomenal. It’s a great community sport. Everybody who starts playing pickleball, nobody wants to leave it. They want to keep getting better and better at it.” Khanna also pointed out the fitness benefits. “While a lot of people start the sport as recreation, they don’t realise it’s very physically inducing. The number of calories you burn is very close to what you burn in singles tennis or squash. All pickleball courts in the country are completely jam-packed.” When asked if pickleball could replace cricket in India, he replied firmly: “No sport is going to replace any other sport. But definitely pickleball is going to make a big mark for itself. With the number of people playing, the enthusiasm that I see, it’s fantastic.” His message to newcomers was simple: “Come down and start playing pickleball. You won’t leave it. And you’re going to get 100 more people to come down and play. Pickleball is going to be there for the future.” About Indian Pickleball Association: The Indian Pickleball Association is the official governing body for pickleball in India and is dedicated to promoting, developing, and organising the sport across the country. The association continues to inspire players of all ages and skill levels to embrace the game through events like the IPA Nationals. IPA is affiliated with the Asian Pickleball Association (APA) and the Global Pickleball Federation (GPF). About Pickleball World Ranking: PWR is a national ranking system that spans all age groups, skill divisions, and formats -including singles, doubles, and mixed categories. It serves as the official National Sports Federation Ranking for India. With multiple sanctioned events taking place every week across the country, PWR defines the top Indian players at every level and forms the foundation for team selection at the school, district, state, and national stages. Stay connected with all the latest news on Pickleball, exclusive behind-the-scenes content, tips, and inspiration you won't find anywhere else. Your ultimate destination for all things pickleball – where the community comes together for news, views, and the sport that's sweeping the globe. Follow us at @pickleballnow on Instagram and be part of the community!

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