Around 300 Players from 16 states participated in this 3 day event.
There were 30 events in Sub-junior, Junior, Senior & Veteran categories, viz. Under-14, 16, 19, Open, 35+, 50+ and 60+ age categories.
Mr Sunil Valavalkar, Founder Secretary of AIPA who was instrumental in bringing this sport into India in 2008 said that he was happy to see the progress made by the sport in India and wished all the players the very best for the Championship.
Tejas Mahajan of Maharashtra won the Gold medal in the Open Men’s Singles defeating Vanshik Kapadia of Mumbai and Himansh Mehta of Mumbai won the Bronze whereas in the Open Women’s Singles, Anuja Maheshwari of Mumbai defeated Urvi Abhyankar of Mumbai to win the Gold and Pooja Shah of Gujarat winning the Bronze.
In the Open Men’s Doubles Mayur Patil and Yuvi Ruia of Maharashtra won the Gold by defeating Vanshik Kapadia and Aniket Durgawali of Mumbai, Tejas Mahajan and Kuldip Mahajan of Maharashtra won the Bronze.
In the Open Women’s Doubles Isha Lakhani & Urvi Abhyankar of Mumbai defeated Vrushali Thakare & Aditi Jagtap of Maharashtra to win the Gold. The Bronze was won by Anuja Maheshwari & Shefali Bhatt of Mumbai.
In the Mixed Doubles, Vrushali Thakare and Mayur Patil of Maharashtra won the Gold by defeating Isha Lakhani and Himansh Mehta of Mumbai whereas Pranav Rohira & Shefali Bhatt of Mumbai won the Bronze.
Mr Chetan Sanil, Secretary General of All India Pickleball Association said “This National Championship witnessed far superior skill level of players as compared to previous years, which is good for the game”. He said that it is heartening to note that players from Harayana, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have also won medals in this year’s event which till now used to be dominated by players from Maharashtra and Mumbai.
The Sub-Junior, Junior & Senior Category Championship Trophy was won by Maharashtra as it got 11 Gold, 9 Silver and 5 Bronze whereas Team Mumbai were 1st Runners Up by winning 7 Gold, 8 Silver and 5 Bronze. Team Harayana were the 2nd Runners Up for winning 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze.
The Veteran Championship Trophy was won by Team Mumbai for winning 4 Gold, 6 Silver and 2 Bronze whereas Team Maharashtra were the 1st Runners Up for winning 4 Gold and 6 Bronze. Team Gujarat were the 2nd Runners Up for winning 2 Gold and 2 Silver.
Mr Arvind Prabhoo, President of All India Pickleball Association said, “I would like to congratulate all the participants of various States and the winners for bringing laurels to their State”. He thanked the Pickleball Association of Gujarat for organising this National Tournament. He further said that Pickleball is growing rapidly all across India and AIPA is sure to see their vision of 5 million Pickleball players in next five years being accomplished. He looked forward to the Government to support this sport and help it get into the Khelo India and National games.
