Former UEFA President Michel Platini detained over voting for Qatar as 2022 World Cup host
France football legend and the banned former UEFA President Michel Platini, has been arrested over the controversial vote which handed the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. The detention of Platini is the first substantial public move in an investigation that opened two years ago by France’s Parquet National Financier (PNF). The arrest comes five years after it was disclosed...
When ‘Lakswavedh’ becomes the reason – Young shooter Om Kubal pursues sport not only for himself but for the society as a whole
“Generally sports activities start at the age of 10. I started when I was 18. So there was less time and many things to learn”. Yes, Om Kubal started late. While at Mumbai’s Ruia College, Om first had an experience of Shooting. Ruia College, known for having one of the best Shooting infrastructures in the city, attracted the first-year student...
“Pickleball is not just a game for me but a way of my existence”…..
CHETAN CHANDRAKANT KATE DOB: 31st August 1990 State: Maharashtra City: Mumbai Club: Team CK Chetan Kate is one of the men without whom Pickleball would not have happened in India. Way back in 2010, when Sunil Valavalkar desperately needed some young blood, Chetan rose like a phoenix from the ashes. “I was a National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteer of M.L. Dahanukar College. I led...
An ‘Indian Day Out’ that reveals why sport in America is 50 years ahead than India
The rise that has just started needs consistency to keep the graph moving upwards. But the fact is that Indian sport still lags far behind than the West. An eyewitness to this, Sunil Valavalkar writes about how a predominantly new sport is nurtured and grown in the USA which he has experienced through his visit to Pickleball Central -...
“Pickleball has those distinct qualities that keep me fit”…..
with Madhulika Choudhary DOB: 30th August 1997 State: Rajasthan City: Sikar Club: VDN & Playard “I used to play Lawn Tennis in Jaipur’s Vidhyadhar Nagar Stadium. At that time the trials for 4th Senior National Pickleball Tournament were going on in the stadium and Rajasthan needed Pickleball players. Niraj Sharma, who also played Tennis, approached and introduced me to Pickleball. He encouraged me...
“This organisation has gone from being toxic, almost criminal, to being what it should be……” Gianni Infantino, President-FIFA
Gianni Infantino was re-elected FIFA president unopposed at the 69th Congress of FIFA in Paris. The 49-year-old Swiss was the only candidate and the traditional vote was replaced with a round of applause at the Congress. Infantino replaced disgraced former president Sepp Blatter in February 2016, serving a shortened first term after his predecessor’s impeachment. After his re-election, Infantino will now...
“Pickleball has made my parents speak proudly about me…..”
with Ashish Ravindra Mahajan DOB: 2nd March 1996 State: Maharashtra City: Mumbai Club: Team CK and Pickleball NX Ashish Ravindra Mahajan is grateful to Mr Chetan Kate for introducing him to Pickleball. An alumni of M. L Dhanukar College in Mumbai, the initial hub of Pickleball in Mumbai, Ashish first played the sport in his college campus. “When I got admission in college, Cricket...
“Pickleball became my saviour when I really needed”…..
with PRASHANT KALANI DOB: 22nd July, 1990 State: Rajasthan City: Jaipur Club: Rajasthan Pickleball Association Prashant Kalani had an indulgence towards sport from his childhood. He and his friends were often spotted playing Cricket, Football, Basketball or Tennis in local clubs and fields. But as they grew up, academic pressure and later professional life scattered them and the friends longed to reunite. “Time...
“Pickleball is something that shall stay with me forever”…..
with KADAMBARI PATIL DOB: 10th August, 1996 State: Maharashtra City: Mumbai Club: Maharashtra State Association Kadambari Patil is one such player who can be regarded as the first-generation of Pickleball players in India. An avid Mumbaikar, Kadambari was a go-happy lucky girl when she first heard of Pickleball. “When I was in first year of BFM in M L Dhanukar College, Chetan Kate told...
The rule of Westeros comes live in the Game of Thrones of Women’s Friendly Pickleball League
The girls rule the world! That is true in Westeros where power ranges from Cercei Lannister to Daenerys Targaryen to Sansa and Arya Stark. They are all queens in the Game of Thrones. The Lannisters and the Targaryens have now inspired the Megha Kapoors and Bela Kotwanis to rule the Pickleball court. Come 25th May, the girls of Pickleball India...