The Pickleball World Ranking (PWR) is holding a Masters event in India, for the first time, as part of the PWR World Tour, from October 24 to October 27 in New Delhi. As the tournament kicked off Wednesday at the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium with around 750 players from around the world, it saw a star-studded audience list, with many prominent personalities attending the first day.
Among them was the president of the Indian Rifles Association (IRA) Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo. He spoke to Times Now's Karishma Singh from the venue and discussed the excitement surrounding pickleball, one of the fastest growing sports in the world.
"It's a great sport, I mean just the pure pleasure of watching it has been amazing," Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said ." And I'm glad I came here, saw a fabulously exciting match, inspires me to pick up pickleball too."
When asked if he would ever pick up the racket and playing pickleball, the former Member of Parliament from Odisha replied in affirmative. "For sure, I think it's a fabulous sport, it's easy to play, it's quick, you know it has a very bright future. And you know tournaments like these, the PWR, Duper India, Masters, where you have players amounting to 750 assembled in one place for days of action-packed days."
Also read: PWR DUPR India Masters 2024: AI Cams Capture Every Moment of Pickleball Mega Event in Delhi | WATCH
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Today’s matches inspired me to play pickleball too: President of National Rifle Association of India, Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo in conversation with Times Network’s @karishma90#PickleballNow#PickleballIndia#PWRDUPRIndiaMasters#Pickleballpic.twitter.com/4eG6fqFmma
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) October 24, 2024
Deo then went on to discuss the prospects of the sport growing in India, despite having its roots in the United States. He said that India could adopt this sports, given the country's strong sporting tradition. He described India hosting the PWR World Tour as a 'great victory.'
"India has a great sporting tradition and the fact that it can adapt to a new sport like pickleball which is predominantly coming out of the US is a great victory by itself for the sport and for sports in India." Deo said. "I think many more of such exhibitions and platforms for players to play would be fantastic. I think it's one of the rare sports you can actually have great viewership on. So all the best to Pickleball Federation."