Pickleball catches fancy of sports lovers in Jalandhar

Sports lovers in Jalandhar are trying their hand at a new racket sport — pickleball. Somewhat similar to other racket sport5s like table tennis, lawn tennis and badminton, pickleball is considered a relatively easier and more amusing game.

The first pickleball court in the city has been set up on the rooftop of Little Blossoms School in Urban Estate. Jalandhar had this week also witnessed the first championship of the game in which 16 teams participated.

The court called the ‘Home of Pickleball’ opens every evening at 5 pm for two hours. Players, most of them college girls and boys, turn up to play the game. A few shops in the sports goods market of Basti Nau have started selling the rackets and balls used in the game.

“Pickleball is a relatively a cost-effective game compared to other racket sports. The racket costs about Rs 1,500 and the perforated, plastic ball costs Rs 60, both of which are more durable than the equipment used in other games,” said Sunny, the coach for lawn tennis and pickleball at the campus.

Explaining the technical aspects of the game, the coach said, “The dimensions of the pickleball court is the same as that of the badminton. While the net in the badminton court is higher, it is kept quite low in pickleball. The net in pickleball is 34 inches high in the centre and 36 inches on the edges. A similarity with badminton is that pickleball game is also played in 11, 15 or 21 points. But unlike badminton, which is a game of two or three sets, pickleball is always played in three sets.”

Sunny added that, “So far, only those who are 20 or above are coming to play pickleball. We have not introduced the game at the school level so far, as it is not a graded game. However, pickleball associations are in place and national-level championships for it are already happening like the one organised at Noida recently.”

Anhad who studies at a Delhi-based college said, “Pickleball is my weekend game. Whenever I am in Jalandhar, I make sure that I play the game every evening. I was introduced to the game by Sahil Sareen who has got the court set up at the school campus recently. Most players have said they had got to know about the sport through Instagram page and the recent championship in Jalandhar had made it all the more popular.”