CHENNAI: Over the past couple of years, pickleball has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. Often explained as a hybrid of tennis, badminton, and table tennis, the sport is played on a badminton-sized court with a lowered net by players from all age groups. From school kids to retired professionals, people are taking to pickleball for various reasons and the All India Pickleball Association (AIPA) is doing their bidding in promoting the sport, especially with the possibility of pickleball being included in the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
The latest buzz in the sport is the emergence of the World Pickleball League (WPBL). Owned by Natekar Sports and Gaming, WPBL is officially recognised by the AIPA and the owners have been given the green light by the national governing body to conduct the league.
The inaugural season of the league that is aiming to have six franchises is expected to happen in Mumbai from early next year. Last week, at an event in Mumbai, the WPBL announced that the team based out of Chennai will be owned by actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
Samantha, much like many others, was fascinated by the rampant rise of the sport and it caught her attention. “One minute, I’m reading about it, and in another, it’s everywhere and everyone is playing it!” Samantha said, responding to this daily’s queries. “I myself am a recent adopter of pickleball, and I highly recommend it to anyone on the fence. I can speak from experience when I say that pickleball is accessible, inclusive, and engaging for all ages. Even though I have not played competitive sports growing up, I have always been an enthusiastic supporter of multiple sports, and am full of admiration for what professional athletes pull off,” she added.
Gaurav Natekar, founder and CEO of WPBL, said that the ease of learning and simplicity of the sport is one of the key reasons for the rise in interest. While appreciating the work done by AIPA, Natekar felt that the Indians who went abroad and liked the sport came back home and started spreading the word and playing the same.
“The court size is so small and you can basically convert a tennis or a badminton court into pickleball, right? I think that’s what happened. And once people realise that this is an easy game to learn, plus I’m getting a workout, I’m getting to hang out with my friends or my family. And our social life is much more active than in the West. I think that has been the trigger point for this,” he told this daily.
He said that WPBL is about taking the sport to a wider audience, making it a combination of sports and entertainment. “Our focus is to make sure that we create an entertainment spectacle. We are looking at a lot of things happening around the league also in terms of, you know, music and content and celebrities and fashion and art and culture, right? We want to try and get a wider audience who have seen the sport and are thinking about whether they should come and watch it and play it and we are trying to get that audience in,” he said.
For Samantha, it is about creating a “happier and healthier future”. “Health and fitness have always been a mainstay in my life. I definitely believe that making sports an integral part of life, especially for young women, can add tremendous value to their journeys, no matter what they choose to pursue. Through this investment, I hope to contribute to making sports more accessible, enjoyable, and attractive — especially to young people. There is a strong correlation between sports and growth, and I believe in the compounding long-term value that investing in sports has for society,” she said.