A new sport ‘Pickleball’ is fast catching up in the city of Mumbai and suburbs. A fun sport which has a combination of tennis, table tennis, squash and badminton, it can be played both indoors as well as outdoors on a badminton sized court with slightly modified tennis net, 3 feet height from the ground level. The racquet is paddle shaped and a plastic ball with holes is used in the play. You can play this game with two players in singles or four players in doubles. The game is played of 11 points with the score counted on every point gained on service.
Prabodhankar Thackeray Kreeda Sankul ( PTKS) , Vile Parle where this game is played with a lot of enthusiasm is also the office of the Indian Pickleball Association, with Mr. Arwind Prabhoo as the President. During the recently concluded Table Tennis Premier League, magzmumbai found time to speak to ace Pickleball player Tejas Mahajan , who is currently Asia No. 2 in men’s section.
25 year old Tejas was noticed by Mr. Arwind Prabhoo few years ago while playing pickleball, which was being promoted by him at different places in Maharashtra. Tejas was then a badminton player from Jalgaon. But, watching his keen interest in Pickleball, Mr. Arwind Prabhoo not only invited him to his club in Mumbai, but also offered him accommodation and sponsorship, so that he could focus on this game. For Tejas, Mr. Arwind Prabhoo turned out to be his godfather at the right time of his sports career.
Today, with his strong physique required for this game, he invites attention of spectators watching this game while entering the premises of the club. Tejas who was practising with another local player Pranav Doiphode at Prabodhankar Thackeray Kreeda Sankul premises, explained us the basic rules of this game and encouraged many veteran TT players like Mr. Jayant Kulkarni, Sanjeev Dandavate, Shekhar Varadkar, Vilas Kale, Aslam Redkar to try some strokes. And all of them did enjoy playing this game. A video of Aslam Redkar while playing few strokes was also shot.It will not be surprising to see the growth of this game soon in the entire city of Mumbai and especially in housing societies, as it needs the space of a badminton court on a hard surface . It’s a good game for relieving stress after a tiring day.
Elaborate arrangements for this game have been made at karjat & kalyan with multiple courts under floodlights, where regular tournaments are played. Today, Pickleball has reached to 16 states of India with around 3000 registered players playing the game. The players participate in national and international tournaments. Those interested in promoting this sport in their clubs and housing societies should contact Prabodhankar Thackeray Kreeda Sankul , Vile Parle. The cost of racquet is around Rs. 3000/- and the longer lasting plastic ball costs around Rs. 400/-. It is an ideal sport worth promoting at school, college level and also in corporate houses.