Pickleball
World Pickleball League: World's fastest growing sport makes a splash in India – Preview
With six teams and players from 14 countries, the World Pickleball League will see a mixture of youth and experience.
Pickleball, the fastest-growing sport in the world, is all set to make a splash in India.
The World Pickleball League, a franchise-based tournament held under the aegis of the All India Pickleball Federation, commenced on Friday at Mumbai.
The inaugural edition of the league has six teams in the fray – Mumbai Pickle Power, Chennai Super Champs, Dilli Dilwale, Pune United, Bengaluru Jawans, and Hyderabad Super Stars – battle it out for ultimate glory at the CCI in Mumbai.
Much like the sport in general, the World Pickleball League will see a mixture of youth and experience in the six teams with players from 14 countries across the globe.
Each team consists of a total of eight players, taking the total tally of players picked up in the draft to 48. All the teams have at least one Indian player in their set-up.
A total of 75 players from 20 countries were up for grabs in the draft.
How the teams stack up?
The home team – Mumbai Pickle Power – will get the tournament underway, going up against their state rivals Pune United in the inaugural match of the World Pickleball League.
Headlining the Pickle Power team will be India’s Mayur Patil, an Asia Open and Asian Pickleball Games medallist. He will have the company of the husband-wife-duo of Brandon Lane and Glauka Lane.
They also have South Koreans Mi Hae Kwon and Kim Eung Gwon, Poland’s young Bartosz Karbownik, Katie Morris of England, and Sabrina Dominguez of Spain in their mix.
The Mumbai Pickle Power will be Sam Basford, the coach of the England national team, in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Pune United will be coached by the 2019 US Open Champion Rosti Sobek. Leading their charge will be the 20-year-old William Sobek – Rosti’s son.
The Indian representation in Pune United is the 19-year-old Vanshik Kapadia, who has made heads turn recently in the country. They will be joined by three Brits – Mollie Knaggs, Louis Laville, and Molly O’Donoghue, who won her debut National tournament last year.
Also in the mix are 17-year-old Polish star Mateusz Matysik, 18-year-old Brooke Revuelta, and the 38-year-old from Australia Talia Saunders.
In the second match on the opening day, the Chennai Super Champs will go up against the Bengaluru Jawans.
The Super Champs will have the experienced Joey Farias at the helm as a coach. They also bagged the services of Indian star Sonu Vishwakarma, who has consistently been among the best in the country.
Vishwakarma, 22, is also the youngest in the Super Champs set-up.
He is joined by Philippines’ Anna Patrimonio and Sarah Jane Lim, Canada’s Etienne Blaszkewycz, Americans Tanner Tomassi and Edward Perez, England’s Thaddea Lock, and Australian Tyra Calderwood.
The Jawans, on the other hand, have the 27-year-old Vrushali Thakare as the Indian representation in the team.
They have two Spaniards – 17-year-old Mauro Garcia and 51-year-old Marcello Jardim – who are expected to play doubles and singles respectively.
Joining hands with them are Jack Foster, Alejandra Borobia, Felix Grunert, and Trang Huynh-McClain.
The Jawans will be coached by former US Open and European Champion Oliver Strecker of Belgium.
Headed by Coco Lococo as the coach, the Dilli Dilwale have two 17-year-old – Alexa Schull and Lauren Mercado – in their mix.
Isha Lakhani, 39, is the Indian representation in the national capital Delhi-based outfit.
They have two Japanese stars in Kenta Miyoshi and Aiko Yoshitomi on their side. Whereas Eduardo Irizarry, Willy Chung, and Leander Lazaro complete the eight-player team.
Hyderabad Super Stars, the final team in the competition, will be headed by Jonny Andrews – a combat military veteran from the United States of America.
The team will be propelled by India’s 25-year-old Kuldip Mahajan adding the local flavour. Poland’s Karolina Owczarek, England’s Ben Cawston, and Italy’s Ludovica Sciaky are three Europeans in the outfit.
Besides, the Super Stars also comprise four Americans – Maxwell Freeman, Ava Cavataio, Ross Whittaker, and Madalina Grigoriu.
Format
The World Pickleball League will follow a round-robin format with each team playing each other once. A total of 15 ties will be played in the league stage before the top four teams move into the semi-finals.
Each tie will consist of five matches – men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The first team to win three matches wins the tie.
The World Pickleball League, which began on the 24th of January at the iconic CCI - Brabourne, will culminate on the 2nd of February.
With PNG Jewellers as the associate sponsor, the event promises thrilling action for sports enthusiasts.
Fans can catch all the live action on Sony Sports Ten 2 and FanCode. For those looking to experience the excitement in person, tickets are available through Swiggy Genie, the official ticketing partner.
Don't miss this spectacular celebration of pickleball!
Note:
- Fans can catch all the live action on Sony Sports Ten 2 and FanCode
- For those looking to experience the excitement in person, tickets are available through Swiggy Genie, the official ticketing partner.
