Asmi Sapra started playing pickleball in 2020. Throughout the pandemic, she played on courts almost a kilometer away from her home in the pink city of Jaipur. “I don’t know why, but pickleball and I just clicked. It was easy to learn,” said Sapra, 20, who has played a “few nationals”. In 2022, she represented India at the Asian Pickleball Open in Phuket and returned with four medals
Sapra was introduced to the sport by one of her father’s friends, Ashwani Wadhwa. “He is 65 and still practices with us every morning,” said Sapra, who studies at Delhi University’s Kamala Nehru College.
Venture capitalist Kunal Vora, 41, started playing pickleball this year in Mumbai. “I’ve been an avid tennis player, having played at club/state/national levels. However, due to injury, I was looking for another sport and that’s how I got into pickleball. As a former tennis player, pickleball was easy to pick up. I was a serve and volley tennis player so I had a good touch at the net, which is an important part of the game in pickleball. So, the game comes quite naturally to me,” said Vora.
What is pickleball and how is it played?
The game is simple. Like other racquet sports like badminton and tennis, pickleball is played either as doubles (two players per team) or singles. “The dynamic sport is played on a court roughly a third the size of a tennis court, making it accessible and less physically demanding. Players use solid paddles to hit a perforated polymer ball, which is similar to a wiffle ball, over a net. The unique aspects, such as the non-volley zone (also known as the kitchen), add a strategic layer to the game. Pickleball is known for its inclusivity and ease of learning, making it ideal for beginners while still being challenging for more experienced players,” said Ujwal Deole, co-founder, chief operating officer, KheloMore.
