Dilli Dillwale Crowned World Pickleball League 2026 Champions

A comeback at Mumbai’s Jio World Garden delivered Dilli Dillwale a 3-2 victory over Chennai Super Champs to win the World Pickleball League 2026 final, handing the Sunil Gavaskar–co-owned outfit a landmark championship night. The result capped a tight, five-match final that swung in Dilli’s favor after an opening setback.

Dilli lost the opening women’s singles match but recovered to take three of the remaining four fixtures and close out the tie 3-2. The clearest turning point arrived in the men’s doubles, where Max Manthou and Erik Lange produced a dominant 14-6 win over Tanner Tomassi and Do Minh Quan. Chennai briefly exercised their Pickle Play option to bring Ly Hoang Nam onto the court temporarily, but Dilli held firm to secure what coverage described as their maiden WPBL crown.

Individual honours reflected standout campaigns across the league. Max Manthou was adjudged Player of the Tournament, while Ly Hoang Nam received the Band of Honour (Male) for scoring the most points among men in the campaign. Katerina Stewart picked up the Band of Honour (Female) for the most points among women, according to an ANI release detailing awards and season statistics.

Ownership and personalities added local profile to the final. Sunil Gavaskar is listed as a co-owner of Dilli Dillwale, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, linked to Chennai Super Champs in related coverage, publicly praised the All India Pickleball Association for promoting the sport. Dilli’s own social channels posted celebratory material after the match; the team’s Instagram acknowledged the title in a short caption accompanying images from the final.

For league context, the WPBL page (Wikipedia snapshot) lists the competition as founded in 2024 with a first season in 2025, administered by the All India Pickleball Association and featuring seven city-based franchises. The snapshot shows teams including Bengaluru Jawans, Pune United, Mumbai Pickle Power, Hyderabad Superstars, Chennai Super Champs, Dilli Dillwale, and Rajasthan Titans, and notes a round-robin format followed by knockout stages with each franchise fielding eight players (four men and four women). Broadcasters listed in that snapshot include SonyLIV, Eurosport and SPOTV in Southeast Asia, and the league’s official web presence was cited in the extract.

A note of caution for record-keepers and fans: the Wikipedia snapshot contains inconsistent spellings of Dilli’s name and an entry that lists a “most recent champion” line for 2025, so treat the match report and award details from the ANI release as the primary account of the 2026 final until the league issues its official match report and box scores.

What this means going forward: Dilli Dillwale’s first WPBL title raises the bar for franchise competition and spotlights players such as Max Manthou and Erik Lange for next season’s draft and signings. Watch for the league’s official match report and full box scores for match-by-match scores and confirmed roster spellings, and follow team social feeds like Dilli Dillwale’s Instagram for photos and highlights from the final.