Armaan Bhatia has emerged as the star of the PWR DUPR India Masters currently taking place at New Delhi's DLTA Stadium ( RK Khanna ) as he is set to create history on Sunday (October 27) by featuring in the finals of the Men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles.
The top-ranked Asian player's journey started in Mumbai, where the city's monsoon forced him to play pickleball instead of Tennis. From that point onwards, the 25-year-old has not looked back, and he is now set for global stardom in pickleball.
"I think pickleball began just because I was playing tennis, and during the rainy season, I started playing the game for fun. Eventually, I started playing it even more during the monsoons in Mumbai, which can be non-stop at times. We also had a covered court. But then, in 2022, there was a professional tournament which I played in Mumbai. From that point, it just started growing on me, and I began playing more competitively. It was finally in August 2023 that I started playing pickleball professionally full-time," Armaan told Pickleball Now.
Armaan took the stage by storm in the men's singles by defeating fellow Indian Aashutosh Mehta 15-1 in the first round before beating countrymen Ronav Motiani 15-7. In an all-Indian quarter-final, he lost the first set to fifth-seeded Aditya Ruhela 10-11 before making a strong comeback to seal his place in the semi-final by winning the second and third sets 11-9, 11-5. In the semis, Armaan stormed past Willy Chung 11-4, 11-1. He will face USA's Dusty Boyer in the men's singles final.
Armaan is also playing the men's doubles event alongside Harsh Mehta, and the duo have cruised into the final. The top-seeded pair defeated Harsh Shah and Dhiren Patel in the first round by an emphatic 15-5 scoreline. They defeated American-Australian pair of Kenta Miyoshi and Tom Evans 15-5 in round 2. In the quarter-final, the Indian pair triumphed over Leander Lazaro and Willy Chung in a three-set thriller by a score of 11-10, 4-11, and 11-6 scoreline. Later, they defeated the Austalian-Indian pair of Jason W. Taylor and Jai Grewal 11-3, 11-9 in the semi-final. They will go head-to-head against the American pair of Mitchell Hargreaves and Roman Estareja in the summit clash.
As far as the mixed doubles are concerned, Armaan has paired up with Netherlands Roos van Reek. The second-seeded Indo-Dutch pair have had a largely flawless run to the final after starting their campaign with a dominant 15-4 victory over the American pair of Alex Hunt and Sofia Sewing. In the quarterfinal, they got the better of the Australian duo of Kaitlynn Hart and Mitchell Hargreaves 11-1, 11-6. In the semi-finals, they defeated Indo-Australian pair of Vishal Masand and Sarah Burr by a comfortable 11-5, 11-1 scoreline. In the final, they will play against the Australian pair of George Wall and Danni E Townsend.
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Already the best player in the continent, Armaan outlined his vision to play in the United States of America (USA) and test himself in competitions there.
"I mean, I've ticked one box now, that's being India and probably Asia's best. But now the goal is to be top five in the world. So, I probably want to do more in the States and see how that goes about. We went to the States this year early on and we placed top five in the US Open. So I want to be there a little more, play a little more in America and see how that pans out for me," said Armaan.
Armaan's impact on the sport is helping build the next generation of picklers from India by running a coaching centre with Harsh Mehta.
"So, my partner, Harsh, and I run a company called Blaze Pickleball in Mumbai. We have about 200 to 250 kids training with us. A lot of them are competing over here. A lot of them have done really well over here," Armaan said.
Live Telecast And Streaming Details Of PWR DUPR India Masters
All the action of The PWR DUPR India Masters is live on Zoom and Mirror Now television channels and digitally streamed on Times Now (https://www.timesnownews.com/), Pickleball Now (www.pickleballnow.in), You Tube channels @Times Now, @MirrorNow, @ZoomTV, and @SportsNow. For all official scores, detailed match statistics, and live updates, visit play.pwr.global. DD Sports live broadcast will be only on Sunday 4 PM onwards for the grand finale.
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