The 5th edition of Bainbridge Cup, the greatest global tournament of Pickleball, began in India through a glittering opening ceremony at National Sports Club of India, Mumbai.
It was on Bainbridge Island, a small city in western Washington state, where Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum and Bill Bell formulated the sport, Pickleball. To commemorate the founders of Pickleball, the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP), conceptualised an intercontinental tournament and named it the Bainbridge Cup.
The inaugural Bainbridge Cup took place at Madrid in Spain in 2017. In 2018, the tournament was held at Montesilvano in Italy. In 2019, the Bainbridge Cup was held at Essen in Germany and in 2021 it was held at Florida in USA.
India won the right to host the 5th edition of the Bainbridge Cup. The tournament in India is organised by the All India Pickleball Association (AIPA) in association with Amateur Pickleball Federation, India (APFI).
Ten nations from across the globe is participating in this tournament. The countries are Australia, Chinese Taipei, Egypt, Japan, Nigeria, USA, Singapore, Thailand, Canada, New Zealand and India. There will be around 1500 matches in five days in Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles and U-18 categories. Over 350 national players and 40 international players are participating in this tournament.
Carl Burnett, the Vice President of IFP who flew to India to attend this event,was overwhelmed at the response of the players, officials and other stake holders of the sport. “I can gauge the popularity of this sport in India and the impact of this event on all the participating nations,” he said.
The tournament has become historically significant because this is the first time the world cup of any racquet sport is being organised in India. The tournament is also the talk of the town as the total prize money accounts to a whooping 55000$.
Arvind Prabhoo, the Chairman of AIPA first proposed to bring the Bainbridge Cup to India. Since then, he and his team have worked relentlessly to host an event of this magnitude in India. 
“I remember meeting Mr Valavalkar nine years back and he tried to explain me about this game of Pickleball. But I wondered how this game goes, how it moves and what is the level of popularity of this sport. It seemed to me that he is talking about a game that kids generally play with ball and notebook while in school. But now looking at its professionalism, looking at its excellence, I want to congratulate him and Arvindji. It is very important for all of us to play any game in our daily life and this sport is perfect for everyone,” Thackeray concluded. 
