Indian pickleball has turned toward building courts, coaches and school programs before hunting for top players. Recognized as the national federation,the Indian Pickleball Association (IPA)has since staged more than 150 tournaments and is widening the base through school partnerships and a domestic equipment testing lab. Following India's moves from the institution-building side, rather than through the glamour of its pro league, reveals a growth model different from Japan's, where a surge in player numbers is driving everything.
From national federation status to 150-plus tournaments, with rankings driven by PWR50 to PWR1000
In April 2025, the IPA was recognized by India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports as aNational Sports Federation (NSF). That gave the IPA the standing to govern, grow and develop the sport inside the country. Since recognition it has staged or sanctioned more than 150 tournaments, graded by size across categories running fromPWR50 to PWR1000. The country's first national championship has been held, and a pro league, the Indian Pickleball League (IPBL), has launched.
IPA president Suryaveer Singh Bhullar told Pickleball News Asia that the body has "introduced a ranking system, begun certifying coaches and referees, and run tournaments under the PWR framework." Not letting tournaments end as one-off excitement, but wiring them into rankings and certification, is the core of the past six months.
Inside the build-up approach that puts schools and courts first
The IPA chose schools as its entry point. Working with the sports education firm The Sports Gurukul, it plans to launch a national inter-school championship, a partnership aimed at more than 500 educational institutions across over 20 cities. Talks are also under way to fold the sport into CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) school sport and the national development program Khelo India.
The spread is told through the map more than the numbers. "Gujarat and Maharashtra were dominant earlier, but that picture is changing fast," Bhullar says. The Northeast has emerged as a new stronghold, and player numbers are rising in Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Tennis players switching codes are pushing the base wider too. In the president's own words, the policy is to build courts, develop coaches and lay the pathway first, and champions will follow.
A domestic paddle testing lab aimed at ending reliance on foreign approval
There is a push for self-sufficiency in equipment as well. The IPA is working with USA Pickleball to build India's first paddle testing and certification lab, expected to be running within the year. The aim is to end the current dependence on overseas bodies for paddle approval and complete testing and certification inside the country.
If tournament counts and rankings are about ordering the competition, the lab is about guaranteeing equipment reliability at home. The time and cost of waiting on foreign approval easily becomes a barrier for regional organizers and for manufacturers trying to enter. A working domestic lab would make it easier to distribute Indian-made paddles and develop homegrown equipment to spec. The idea of tying growth of the sport to growth of an equipment industry shows up here.
Behind the recognition: the IPA and AIPA fight over who leads
This build-up has a backdrop of conflict between governing bodies. Active since 2008,the All India Pickleball Association (AIPA)pushed back hard against NSF recognition for the IPA, arguing that it was the body that brought the sport to India in the first place. AIPA claims the decision breaches the 2011 National Sports Code, which requires at least three years of operating history, and has asked for the recognition to be reviewed.
争いは法廷に持ち込まれたが、デリー高裁はAIPAの申し立てを退けており、IPAはNSFの立場を維持している。国家連盟が一本化されないままでは、大会の格付けも用具規格も二重になりかねない。IPAが大会・学校・検査所を矢継ぎ早に進める背景には、公認団体としての実績を積み上げ、統括の正統性を既成事実にしていく狙いも透ける。用具面でも、AIPA側が別の認証ラボを立ち上げるなど、対立は運営から規格の領域にまで及んでいる。
Japan rides a player boom while India lays institutional foundations
Both are growing, but Japan and India are building their footing in opposite ways. In Japan the explosion in player numbers came first. Ouranalysis of pickleball in Japanputs the playing population at roughly 6,000 in 2024, about 45,000 in 2025 and around 330,000 in 2026, with organizations scrambling to catch up with demand. On the governing side, the Japan Pickleball Association (JPA) and the Pickleball Japan Federation (PJF) merged on April 14, 2026, unifying as Pickleball Japan (PJ) only recently.
India, by contrast, is assembling the skeleton first, with recognition, rankings, school partnerships and a domestic testing lab, and then pouring players into it. Japan pushes on the momentum of its playing population; India secures its footing through the governing framework. Which moves faster will be tested over the next few years by tournament counts and school adoption. For the global picture, reading oura list of international tournamentsandpiece on the odds of Olympic inclusionalongside this makes the differences between countries easier to follow.
Whether India's approach works comes down to how much the paddle testing lab, due online within the year, and the school championship spreading to more than 20 cities grow the real numbers over the next 12 months. What kind of participation curve does a country draw when it counts courts and coaches before top players? Set beside Japan's surge model, it is an experiment worth following.
Sources
- Pickleball News Asia「IPA Charts Ground-Up Pathway for Pickleball’s Next Phase in India」（2026-08-05）
- The Tribune「Indian Pickleball Association condemns AIPA’s misrepresentation」
- LawChakra「Delhi High Court Dismisses AIPA Challenge, IPA Remains National Sports Federation」
- Business Upturn「The Sports Gurukul and IPA Align for Landmark National Inter-School Pickleball Championship」
- Pickle Times, "Analyzing Pickleball in Japan: How Far It Has Spread and Where It Goes Next"
