Chintan Seth, Nilesh Desai win 50+ men’s doubles title at Madhya Pradesh Open

Chintan Seth and Nilesh Desai captured the 50+ men’s doubles title at the Madhya Pradesh Open in Indore, defeating Yogesh Kale and Manish Jain in the final and strengthening the case that pickleball’s growth in India is not just a youth story.

The championship match, played on May 17 at Soft Serve Courts, belonged to the older-age draw, but it carried the same weight as any open division result. Seth and Desai were noted for their chemistry, calmness under pressure and smart court coverage, traits that matter more in veteran doubles than raw pace. In a category where placement, patience and communication decide more points than power, the pair handled the final with the kind of discipline that keeps experienced players relevant deep into a tournament.

The Madhya Pradesh Open ran from May 15 to 17 as an IPA-sanctioned PWR 400 event with a reported prize pool of 5,00,000. That structure matters. When a tournament includes juniors, open players and veterans under one umbrella, it creates more than a weekend of matches. It builds a ladder that can keep players involved longer, gives clubs more reasons to fill courts, and makes the sport easier to adopt inside families where different generations can compete in the same ecosystem.

For India’s pickleball scene, the title also fits into a larger expansion pattern. The Indian Pickleball Association says it is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and oversees rankings, tournaments and player development nationwide. The federation says its circuit now spans more than 100 ranking tournaments, 500-plus professional players and 27 states, a scale that gives age-group titles real value because they help widen the base beyond the handful of headline open draws.

That depth is part of why repeated tournament exposure has become such a theme in Indian pickleball. National events are increasingly viewed as the proving ground for handling pressure and different styles of play, and the 2026 calendar already includes nearly 45 events across India. With the Indian Open in Hyderabad having drawn major attention earlier in the season, the Indore result showed that the calendar is not only producing elite matches, it is also creating meaningful stages for veteran athletes who still want to compete hard.

Across Asia, that matters too. The Asian Pickleball Association, established in 2023, has made regional growth and Olympic Council of Asia recognition part of its mission. Results like Seth and Desai’s title suggest one of pickleball’s biggest advantages in Asia may be competitive longevity, with veteran divisions turning older athletes into active participants, not former players.