New Delhi: Armaan Bhatia stormed into not one but three finals of the PWR DUPR India Masters Pickleball Tournament, continuing his dominant run in the marquee event held at the DLTA courts in New Delhi. The 25-year-old, who is known as one of the best pickleball talents in the nation, reached the finals of the mixed doubles event alongside his partner Roos Van Reek of Netherlands on Saturday, beating the Indian-Australian pair of Vishal Masand and Sarah Burr 11-5, 11-1 in the semis.
Bhatia will notably be the only player chasing a treble on the final day (Sunday) of the $50,000 tournament. In the mixed doubles final, the Indo-Dutch pair will be up against the Australian duo of George Wall and Danni Townsend, who qualified for the title clash by beating the Australian-US pair of Emilia Schmidt and Casey Diamond.
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Bhatia and Van Reek are in some form in the ongoing tournament as in the quarterfinals, they defeated the Australian pair Kaitlynn Hart and Mitchell Hargreaves in straight games. They ran to an instant lead of 7-0 in the opening game and bagged it 11-1. The second game was a close affair but Bhatia and Reek showed nerves of steel, making it 11-6 and registering a straight-game win.
The mixed doubles result means Bhatia has qualified for three finals of the tournament taking place at the R.K. Khanna Tennis Stadium. He will feature in the men’s singles and men’s doubles (with Harsh Mehta) finals as well.
Bhatia’s pickleball journey
Bhatia picked up pickleball professionally only last September and has eased into this sport which is growing rapidly. Although being a professional tennis player, he didn’t get much success on the domestic tour which led him to occasionally play a game of pickleball at the Khar Gymkhana in Mumbai.
What started as a recreational activity took a major turn during the COVID-19 lockdown period when outdoor activities were suspended. He was already struggling with a dodgy hamstring and eventually turned his focus on pickleball. The game is played with a racket and a perforated tennis ball and can be played both indoors as well as outdoors. His tennis skills came in handy as well.
“Whenever it would rain, I would just go indoors and play pickleball. It was super fun,” Bhatia spoke to Hindustan Times. “It was not a whimsical decision. I thought over it for about two years before taking the plunge. It wasn’t too tough for me to make the transition although getting rid of muscle memory is not easy,” Bhatia added.
“I am hoping for a hat-trick tomorrow,” an overjoyed Bhatia said on Saturday. In the men’s singles event, he will be up against US top-seed Dusty Boyer, who has followed the same path of taking up pickleball from being a professional tennis player.
