Two Indian teams comprising a total of nine players have been selected to compete in the Pickleball World Cup, which will be organised in Lima (Peru) from October 22-27.
The Indian Pickleball Association said it was invited to send two teams to compete on the global stage.
“At the recently-concluded selection trials in Ahmedabad, organised under the aegis of the IPA and the Gujarat State Pickleball Association (GSPA), nine talented players were selected to represent India,” IPA made the announcement in partnership with Pickleball World Rankings on Tuesday.
The Indian team for Open category will be led by Dhiren Patel and will feature Himansh Mehta, Suraj Desai, Rakshika Ravi and Anshi Sheth.
The Seniors 50 plus category will feature Nozer Amalsdiwala, Kiran Salian, Bela Kotwani and Sujay Parekh.
The sport shares similarities with tennis but players in Pickleball use paddles instead of racquets, and play on a court which is similar to the size of a doubles’ badminton court. The height of the net is 36 inches on the sidelines and in the middle it is 34 inches.
“It is a proud moment for the Indian Pickleball Association to be invited to send two teams to the World Cup. We have full faith in these players and hope they will bring glory to India,” said IPA president Suryaveer Singh Bhullar.
