India names squad for 2026 Pickleball World Cup in Da Nang
Harsh Mehta will lead India’s eight-player contingent in Da Nang after a tight selection race. The squad heads to the first World Cup staged in Asia.
India named its eight-player contingent for the 2026 Pickleball World Cup on July 9, with Harsh Mehta set to lead the pro-category push after a highly competitive selection process. The final group also includes Arjun Singh, Anish Froilan, Aman Patel, Naomi Amalsadiwala, Pearl Amalsadiwala, Mihika Yadav and Aaliyah Ebrahim, giving India a roster built around a clear mix of top-end experience and the next wave of national talent.
The announcement carried extra weight because the Indian Pickleball Association now holds formal recognition as the national federation for the sport. That status, backed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and upheld by a Delhi High Court ruling in February 2026, gives the squad selection a level of institutional authority that pickleball in India did not have even a year ago. It also makes the final roster a better indicator of the country’s current pecking order, with places earned through a process the association described as fiercely contested rather than symbolic.
India’s preparation now points directly toward Da Nang, Vietnam, where the World Cup is scheduled from August 30 to September 6. The event will be the first World Cup held in Asia, and organizers expect about 4,000 athletes, coaches, referees and fans from roughly 80 countries and territories. For India, that turns a squad announcement into a test of where its best players sit against a global field arriving on Asian soil for the first time.
The pressure is sharper because India has already shown it can turn into a medal market at world level. At the 2025 World Cup in Florida, India finished seventh overall and collected 25 medals, including eight gold, eight silver and nine bronze, along with a bronze in the junior competition. That result explains the stronger expectations around this group and why Mehta’s inclusion matters: he is the player being trusted to carry India’s pro-category ambitions in a tournament that will be watched closely across a region still defining its hierarchy. Suryaveer Singh Bhullar, the IPA president, said the squad has the depth and synergy to bring the World Cup home, and selected players will now move into a structured high-performance program built around technical, physical, mental and sports nutrition training.
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