Now Reading: Harsh Mehta to lead India at 2026 Pickleball World Cup
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Harsh Mehta to lead India at 2026 Pickleball World Cup
Harsh Mehta, a former table tennis player from Mumbai, has been named captain of India's professional team for the 2026 Pickleball World Cup. He recalls starting when the country had only five…
The Story in Brief
Harsh Mehta, a former table tennis player from Mumbai, has been named captain of India's professional team for the 2026 Pickleball World Cup. He recalls starting when the country had only five or six courts; now he estimates over 600. Mehta, who holds an engineering degree and an MBA, switched to pickleball full-time after finishing his studies.
Separately, 17-year-old Purvansh Patel from Gujarat will make his debut in the Under-18 team at the same World Cup, to be held in Da Nang, Vietnam from August 30 to September 6. He is training under coach Dhiren Patel in Ahmedabad, doing 3-4 hours daily with meditation for mental preparation. His long-term goal is to become world No.1 in pro men's singles.
The Indian Opinion
The breathless coverage of India's rising pickleball stars reads like ministry press releases. Harsh Mehta says courts grew from 5-6 to 500-600, but who is counting and how? The sport's real test is not World Cup medals but whether Indian brands can make competitive paddles, as Mehta himself points out. Watch for this: after the tournament, will any Indian manufacturer announce a pro-level paddle? That number will tell us if this is a real ecosystem or just another amateur boomlet.
Sources (2): timesnownews.com, timesnownews.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
