Pickleball, a sport that is a combination of badminton, tennis and table tennis (TT), got a boost in India when Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur played the game at the Noida Stadium in Uttar Pradesh while inaugurating the government's 'Saansad Khel Spardha'. Thakur played a game of pickleball with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Gautambuddh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma and MLA Pankaj Singh.
Thakur, who has represented his home state Himachal Pradesh in First Class cricket, also played badminton and table tennis after he declared the tournament open. The 'Saansad Khel Spardha' saw 12 sports being held with participation of thousands of players.
While pickleball is relatively new in India, it is a popular sport in the United States and has been taken up by tennis legends like Andre Agassi and John McEnroe as well as celebrities like Bill Gates, George and Amal Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio and basketball star Kevin Durant.
A video of Thakur playing pickleball has gone viral on social media. The minister expressed interest in the sport and said he would provide support in popularising it.
The Uttar Pradesh Open Pickleball Championship, which saw over 100 players competing across 30 categories, was the first pickleball tournament to be held under the 'Saansad Khel Spardha', which was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in 2019 to inculcate a culture of sports among youth.
Speaking on the occasion, Thakur said the government was committed to scaling up sporting capabilities at the local level to identify talented youth.
"During the Congress regime, sports was allocated only Rs 964 crore. However, the BJP government has increased it three times to Rs 3,397 crore and has developed sports infrastructure in a big way," he said.
"If each and every elected representative starts doing something like this in their constituencies, it will create the right sports environment and it will help us to scout new talent and nurture them to win medals for India in future," Thakur added.
Under the 'Saansad Khel Spardha' initiative, every Member of Parliament has been asked to organise sports festivals so that the culture of sports is encouraged among the youths and their sporting talents are groomed and channelised.
Nepal Pickleball Team Grabs Eyeballs
While the UP Open Pickleball Championship saw players from Rajasthan, Mumbai, Gurgaon participate, a small contingent from Nepal grabbed the spotlight with their gameplay.
Jackson Subedi, who led the Nepal team, said it was the first time that they were participating in a pickleball tournament outside their country.
"There is a small group of people in Nepal who have started playing pickleball just 3-4 months back and we are here representing the entire country. I am loving the sport as I play a little bit of tennis and I know table tennis and pickleball has hooked me up. My plan is to start training youngsters back in Nepal with the experience I will gain from this tournament," Subedi told ABP Live.
Presently, the budding sport is being played by around 30 people in Nepal.
"Most of them have a background in badminton, which is a very popular sport in Nepal. There are a lot of injuries happening in badminton but in pickleball, there are far fewer injuries and that is why it is getting popular in Nepal as well as in other parts of the world," he added.
Aman Grover, general secretary, Pickleball Sports Association, Uttar Pradesh (UPSPA), which is hosting the tournament, said the introduction of pickleball into 'Saansad Khel Spardha 2023' was a stepping stone to building this game for Olympics.
"The support from the government has given us hope that we will be able to give shape to this game and take it to a much bigger level, where all homes in Uttar Pradesh will see a pickleball player," Grover told ABP Live.