Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and it is making waves among the Indians as well. India's top pickleball star, Dhiren Patel, who is known for winning the prestigious US Open Pickleball Championship in Florida, USA talked about the growing popularity of the sport, it's addictiveness and his journey so far at the sidelines of the ongoing PWR DUPR India Masters in New Delhi.
The India Masters is the fruition of the joint collaboration between The Times Group along with Pickleball League Asia Private Limited, which led to the birth of Pickleball World Rankings and in this PWR 700 event, top players from all around the world are playing at his big-ticket event from October 24-27.
Patel, who is ranked No. 1 in the world, in the singles category of 35 years and older, says that the Indians have now started playing the 'real' pickleball, like the way it should be played. For him it's not about hitting the ball hard but it's about placing it right and honing the proper skills.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Times Now (@timesnow)
'You see a lot of players playing actual pickleball, the way the game should be played. It's not about hitting hard it's about placing the ball. You can see a lot players working hard on their skills to move around and place the ball on court', he told in an in an exclusive interaction with Pickleball Now.
The Ahmedabad boy credited his career success to Pawan Patel sir, who brought the game to Gujarat. He feels that in the coming future many players from all sort of racquet sports will switch allegience to pickleball but the important thing is to learn it the right way because as per him, the game is easy to start but it's hard to master.
''For me, I would like to thank Pawan Patel sir for bringing pickleball in our life. Sir is the pioneer for pickleball in Gujarat. It's a very addictive game. I think in coming times, players really will be moving towards pickleball. It is easy to start and hard to master. You have to fit to play pickleball. In Ahmedabad in the academies, the coaches are booked at 4 am, 5 am also. The craze is there, the playing is happening everywhere. But learning the right way is the main thing'', Dhiren told.
He also happens to be a pickleball coach and the player from the tennis background also reflected on the addictive part of the game.
''Keeps you fit, makes you sweat. When you have that one passing shot in the court, it will bring a smile, when the player is moving out. There is the fun part but it's also challenging and when you do good, that's where the addiction lies'', he concluded.