Natekar, founder and CEO of the freshly minted World Pickleball League, on the rapid spread of the sport, and how it's now going beyond metros
Gaurav Natekar, Founder and CEO of the World Pickleball League
His father, Nandu Natekar, was one of India's earliest badminton heroes, and he himself has represented India in tennis. But Gaurav Natekar, Arjuna awardee and a double Asian Games gold medallist, has now picked up a sport that is neither of these—at best, a cross between the two. Through Natekar Sports and Gaming, which he owns and promotes, the former India No 1 is set to launch the World Pickleball League—his company will invest $10 million over the next three to five years in India and APAC countries. While the sport is gathering steam across the world, especially in the US, it remains nascent in India. Will Natekar manage to turn the tide? In an episode of Sports UnLtd, he tells Forbes India why he took the bet. Edited excerpts:
Q. You are the son of one of India 's most well-known badminton players and you were an accomplished tennis player yourself. What drove you to pickleball?
I have another business called Natekar Sports and Fitness, which builds sports infrastructure across the country and through which we work with brands who want to enter the sporting ecosystem. About eight to 10 months ago, my team started coming to me with a lot of enquiries from people and organisations that wanted to build pickleball courts. That's when I realised that if there were so many courts being built, there had to be something in that sport. After that, my company had sponsored a national ranking tournament in Goa and when I went there for the finals, I realised there is definitely something more to this than what meets the eye.
Q. Does pickleball have enough traction in India for the audiences to lap up a league?