The Pickleball Now Grand Prix 2026 began its 13-city journey with a successful opening tournament in Mumbai, giving players an opportunity to showcase their talent and earn a chance to enter the Indian Pickleball League (IPBL) player auction.

The Mumbai leg, held on July 23, featured 56 matches and eight finals across the Advanced and Open categories.

The event was attended by Vineet Jain, Managing Director of The Times Group; Indian Pickleball Association (IPA) President Suryaveer Singh Bhullar; Abhinav Bansal, Vice President, Corporate Development & Strategy at Nazara Technologies; and Shaleen Jain, representative of the Lucknow Leopards.

Raaquib Merchant emerged as the biggest star of the tournament, winning the Open Men’s Singles title, the Open Men’s Doubles title with Vishal Jadhav, and the Advanced Men’s Doubles title alongside Ritesh Jaiswal.

Bhumika Tripathi also delivered an impressive performance by winning both the Advanced Women’s Singles 19+ and Open Women’s Singles titles.

Other winners included Bhakti and Jueelee Chavan in the Advanced Women’s Doubles, Aarush Nitture in the Advanced Men’s Singles, and Gurleen Singh and Aahana Punjabi in the Open Women’s Doubles.

The Mumbai tournament marked the first stop of the Pickleball Now Grand Prix, which has partnered with the Indian Pickleball League (IPBL) to provide amateur players with a pathway to professional pickleball.

Outstanding performers from the tournament series will get an opportunity to enter the IPBL player auction, where franchises can select emerging talent.

Speaking about the initiative, Nitish Mittersain, Founder of Nazara Technologies and owner of the Mumbai Smashers, said pickleball is growing rapidly in India and the tournament provides a platform for both experienced and young players to showcase their skills.

Representatives of the Mumbai Smashers, winners of the inaugural IPBL season, closely followed the matches during the Mumbai leg to scout promising players.

Following the Mumbai opener, the Pickleball Now Grand Prix will continue its journey across India with the Lucknow leg, which will be played in Noida on August 16, followed by Bengaluru on August 22, Hyderabad on August 30, Chennai on September 5, Gurugram and other cities as part of the 13-city tournament.