The Indian news and entertainment organization The Times Group has announced it is partnering with Pickleball Asia to create The Pickleball World Series. The WPS will start in the United States and travel across different continents with six major events in a year.
A Truly Global Reach
The series will be the first set of tournaments with a truly global reach, and in its first year, will comprise 64 players in the individual format and six teams comprising four players each, from the US and the rest of the world, including India – one of world’s pickleball’s biggest hotspots.
Times Group Managing Director Vineet Jain said, “Pickleball is gaining ground as the game for urban sports enthusiasts. We hope that this effort to take the fastest growing modern sport to the next level will inspire its exponential growth all over the world, including in India.” He believes that in 5-7 years, pickleball will overtake tennis in terms of participation.
Its Group CEO of New Media and Investments, Narayanan Subramanian, said: “Rapidly accelerating participation and increasing fandom is driving the popularity of many innovative sports globally. That is the opportunity we spotted in Pickleball.
“This fun and immersive sport has won over the hearts of Gen Z and Millennials, making it a natural choice for our partnership and an important addition to our portfolio of strong brands.
“The Pickleball World Series, our marquee event, will provide a unique platform to bring out the best in players and teams, for fans to enjoy and support their favorites, and for brands to engage and interact with these audiences.”
World Pickleball Community “60 Million Strong”
Pranav Kohli of Pickleball Asia said: “The [world] pickleball player community is now 60 million strong worldwide and is growing steadily. We could not have found a better partner, anchor, and investor than the Times Group.”
He also explained a little more about the PWS proposal: “Starting in the US, the Pickleball World Series will travel across different continents with six major events. The Series will be supported by Pickleball World Rankings, a one-of-a-kind ranking system that allows players to accumulate points and qualify for the Pickleball World Series. We expect this will enable Pickleball stars to rise from different corners of the world and not just from the US.”
Pranav Kohli is a fourth-generation entrepreneur associated with the legacy brand “Stag” – the maker of table tennis gear across the globe—as well as Pickleball Asia and Pickleball United.
In his short time as CEO, Pickleball United has become one of the top infrastructure providers for Pickleball in the US. It is associated with major events in the US, such as the Pickleball Slam, the US Indoor National Championships, and the US Open, as well as in other territories like the English Open and the Bainbridge Cup.
