Ashish Khanna Hails Pickleball: Chennai is hosting India’s first-ever PWR 1000 pickleball event, the Rise Up Championship – Pickleball by the Bay 2025. PWR co-founder Ashish Khanna called the tournament a landmark moment, praising the venue and the competition at VGP Golden Beach Resort. Nearly 100 top players from across India are competing.
High-Quality Event and Competition
“Firstly, I would like to thank Chennai for holding this event. It’s a beautiful event and the way they have done the event is spectacular. It’s right on the sea, beautiful. It’s as good as a big international sporting event,” Ashish Khanna said. He also highlighted the competition: “We have got all the top players of India playing this event. It’s a closed draw event, and the quality of the sport has been fantastic. I just saw the semi-finals with the ladies — it was a great event.”
Rapid Growth Across India
Ashish Khanna said pickleball’s popularity is rising fast. “The growth of pickleball has been phenomenal. And it’s not going to stop. It’s going to be exponentially rising. The number of courts started with a handful about five years ago, and now we’ve got multiple thousand courts in India. The number of people playing pickleball is increasing rapidly.”
Accessibility and Appeal
Khanna noted the sport’s broad appeal. “I think it’s a new-age sport. People are looking for newer activities. The attraction of the sport has been phenomenal. It’s a great community sport. Everybody who starts playing pickleball, nobody wants to leave it. They want to keep getting better and better at it.”
Fitness and Recreation Benefits
Pickleball also offers health benefits. “While a lot of people start the sport as recreation, they don’t realise it’s very physically inducing. The number of calories you burn is very close to what you burn in singles tennis or squash. All pickleball courts in the country are completely jam-packed,” Khanna said.
Future of Pickleball in India
When asked about pickleball replacing cricket, Khanna said firmly: “No sport is going to replace any other sport. But definitely pickleball is going to make a big mark for itself. With the number of people playing, the enthusiasm that I see, it’s fantastic.” He encouraged newcomers: “Come down and start playing pickleball. You won’t leave it. And you’re going to get 100 more people to come down and play. Pickleball is going to be there for the future.”
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News in Brief: Ashish Khanna Hails Pickleball
PWR co-founder Ashish Khanna praised the Rise Up Championship – Pickleball by the Bay 2025 in Chennai as a landmark event. With nearly 100 top players competing, he highlighted pickleball’s rapid growth, accessibility, and fitness benefits. Khanna believes the sport is set to make a strong mark in India’s sports scene.
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