The Pickleball Now Grand Prix began its 13-city trip in Mumbai on Thursday, July 23, with Raaquib Merchant and Bhumika Tripathi leading the pack on the first day.
The first day of competition ended with 8 finals for the Advanced and Open categories, and Merchant had a particularly impressive run after winning three titles.
Merchant first teamed up with Ritesh Jaiswal to take the Men's Doubles 19+ Advanced title. The duo defeated Sudarshan Dhakne and Varun Mittal 11-5 in the final.
Merchant then faced his doubles partner Jaiswal in the Men's Singles Open final. In one of the closest matches of the day, Merchant won 11-9 to earn a second title.
He ended his outstanding day by teaming up with Vishal Jadhav in the Men’s Doubles Open final. The pair won convincingly against Sudarshan Dhakne and Varun Mittal 11-0.
Bhumika Tripathi was also a big winner in Mumbai, winning two women's singles titles. She started her campaign with an 11-7 victory over Aahana Punjabi in the Women's Singles 19+ Advanced final.
Tripathi then delivered an even more commanding performance in the Women's Singles Open final and defeated Priyanka Mehta 15-3 to complete a memorable double.
Aarush Nitture also performed well, winning the Men's Singles 19+ Advanced title after defeating Varun Mittal 11-2.
In women's doubles, Jueelee Chavan and Bhakti B won the Women's Doubles 19+ Advanced title. They defeated Bindiya Aggarwal and Sameera Lala 11-5.
The Women's Doubles Open title went to Gurleen Singh and Aahana Punjabi, who defeated Priyanka Mehta and Urvi Abhyankar 11-8 in the final.
The Mumbai leg is important beyond the results, because the Pickleball Now Grand Prix is for competitive amateur players to be able to reach the professional level.
The Grand Prix has teamed up with the Indian Pickleball League (IPBL), and selected players from the series will be eligible to participate in the IPBL Player Auction. The PWR 700-sanctioned series will travel to 13 cities and provide up to Rs 50 lakh in prize money and valuable ranking points.
The competition will also provide players an opportunity to show up in front of IPBL teams looking for new talent. Mumbai Smashers, winners of the first season of the IPBL, are one of the teams monitoring players in the Mumbai tournament.
Nitish Mittersain, owner of Nazara Technologies, which owns Mumbai Smashers, said the partnership would be an opportunity to find promising players as pickleball is growing rapidly in India.
Following the first leg in Mumbai, the Grand Prix will travel to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurugram, Chennai and Lucknow, with the Lucknow edition taking place in Noida. The rest of the legs will take place in August and September.
The Mumbai opening day provided an early indication of the competition's ambition. Although the winners gained immediate titles and prize money, the PWR ranking points and potential pathway to the IPBL Player Auction mean performances in the Grand Prix could have a much wider impact on the players' professional careers.
With 12 more cities yet to host the series, the Pickleball Now Grand Prix will be a key part of the way in identifying and developing the next generation of competitive pickleball players in India.
