Padel in Maharashtra

Reviewed profileAchievements, tournaments, coaches and FAQs on this page are compiled by hand from federation, government and press reporting, drawing on Wikipedia — Padel in India, India Tribune/IANS — Mahesh Bhupathi padel growth interview, Padel Business Magazine — FIP World Padel Report 2025 (India affiliation), Wikipedia — Lakshit Sood, The Signal — Inside Padel's India push. These are not cited to individual documents: we hold no per-claim source for them, so treat dates, counts and career records here as a summary rather than a reference. Sections we hold nothing for are left empty. Sport pages last reviewed as a set: September 2026.

Overview

Origin: 1969 Mexico
Category: Racquet
Olympic discipline: No
Paralympic discipline: No
Central pathway: Federation and state pathway
Athlete profiles on SportSupport: 0

Governance and status

Each field below is shown only where we hold a source for it; anything else reads “Not currently verified” rather than a guess. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition is granted year by year, so it is only ever shown with the year it applies to. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Indian governing/organising body: Indian Padel Federation
Ministry recognition: Not currently verified
International federation: Not currently verified
Khelo India inclusion: Not currently verified
TOPS eligibility: Not currently verified
Olympic status: Not on the Olympic programme
Paralympic status: Not a Paralympic discipline

Padel is listed on SportSupport in the racquet category. Its recorded origin is 1969 Mexico. It is not on the Olympic programme. We list Indian Padel Federation as the Indian governing/organising body for the sport.

Padel has a federation and state-level pathway in India, and athletes selected through Indian Padel Federation may be eligible for state sports-quota employment and state cash awards where their state notifies the discipline. TOPS does not apply, as the discipline is outside the Olympic programme.

Scholarships & Funding

Central, state and private scholarships available for padel athletes in India.

Khelo India Talent Identification & Development (KITID)
Stipend, boarding, coaching and kit at accredited centres for talent identified through the Khelo India selection process (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports). Applies only to disciplines on the official Khelo India Games list, and only to athletes it selects.
National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)
Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports fund used to sponsor elite athletes' training, foreign coaches and equipment. Allocations are made case by case; we hold no record of NSDF support specific to padel.
Pension for Meritorious Sportspersons
Lifetime monthly pension for retired internationals who meet the scheme's medal criteria at Asian, Commonwealth or World Championship level — Government of India. Whether a given padel event counts depends on the scheme's notified list.
State sports quota and government employment
Many states reserve government and public-sector posts for national-level medallists. Which padel events and which certifying bodies a state accepts varies by state, so check your state's current notification.

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Indian Players

No profiles yet

No athlete profiles are recorded for padel yet. We only list athletes we can source, so this section stays empty until verifiable profiles exist.

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Rules

Padel is played almost always in doubles on an enclosed 20m x 10m court with glass back walls and metal-mesh side fencing, using solid stringless rackets and a slightly depressurised tennis ball. Serving is underhand after one bounce, hit diagonally into the opponents' service box. Scoring follows tennis (15-30-40, games and sets). The defining feature is that walls are in play: after the ball bounces once on your side you may play it off your own back or side wall, and shots may rebound off the opponents' walls provided they first land in court. A ball that hits the fencing or wall before touching the ground on the opponents' side is a fault, as is a double bounce or a volley off your own wall before the bounce.

Authoritative rulebook: Indian Padel Federation. Age-group and school-level variations are published by SGFI and the state associations each season.

Positions

Typical roles across racquet sports. These are category-level descriptions, not a sourced padel squad list.

Singles
One-on-one match — the standard individual format for ranking events.
Doubles
Two-a-side format with different court coverage and serve/return patterns.
Mixed doubles
One male and one female partner — a distinct discipline at multi-sport meets.

Equipment

Standard kit and infrastructure required to train and compete in padel at a federation-recognised event.

Solid perforated padel racket (premium models up to ₹30,000)
Depressurised padel balls
Enclosed 20m x 10m court with glass back walls and mesh sides
Net at 88cm centre height
Non-marking court shoes with herringbone/omni sole

Governing/organising body

Body listed on SportSupport

Indian Padel Federation

Indian Padel Federation is the body we list as the Indian governing/organising body for Padel, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement of current recognition — recognition is granted year by year.

Origin: 1969 Mexico
Olympic: No
Paralympic: No
Category: Racquet

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Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in padel.

Indian Padel Federation (IPF) national circuit
IPF (established 2016) organizes national ranking tournaments and manages India's national team. The federation received formal international recognition when FIP (the International Padel Federation) affiliated India as a member federation in November 2025. Other bodies (Padel Association of India, Padel Tennis Federation) also operate in this space, reflecting the same kind of governance overlap seen in several newer Indian sports.

International Events

Continental and world-level competitions we hold a source for in padel.

World Padel League
12-time Grand Slam doubles champion Mahesh Bhupathi has become a leading advocate for the sport in India, bringing the World Padel League from Dubai to Mumbai (3rd season, August 2026, 6 teams, 36 world-class players).
ITF Masters World Team & Individual Championships
Tennis-crossover athlete Lakshit Sood won bronze in both doubles and mixed doubles at the 2024 edition in Lisbon.
2026 Asian Games and other multi-sport Games
Padel will feature at the 2026 Asian Games (Aichi-Nagoya), Asian Beach Games, Mediterranean Games and FISU World University Championships, part of the sport's push toward eventual Olympic recognition.

Leagues

No dedicated professional league is currently catalogued for padel. The national championship under Indian Padel Federation remains the top domestic competition.

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International Players

Globally recognised padel athletes to know outside India.

The international federation for padel maintains the current world ranking — check the federation site for the up-to-date top names.

Career Options

Ways to build a career in padel — on the field, on the sidelines and behind the scenes.

India's first padel court opened in Bangalore in 2017; by 2024 the country had roughly 100 courts across major cities
Bhupathi has explicitly framed padel as opening new coaching career pathways in India, noting that many current tennis coaches are also coaching padel and pickleball as the sport grows
Equipment remains a real cost barrier — premium rackets run up to ₹30,000 — and stakeholders are working with brands to bring prices down for the Indian market
Playing pathway through IPF's national ranking events and franchise leagues like the World Padel League

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Related academies

0 listed

No padel academies are catalogued in the directory yet. Browse the full academy list or list your academy to appear here.

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FAQs

Common questions about padel in India.

Who governs Padel in India?▾

We list Indian Padel Federation as the Indian governing/organising body for Padel, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group and state-level competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement that it is currently a recognised national sports federation — recognition is granted year by year.

Is Padel an Olympic sport?▾

No, Padel is not on the Olympic programme.

How do I start playing Padel in India?▾

The usual routes are a school team under the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), a college team under the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), or a private academy affiliated to your state association under Indian Padel Federation. Age-group state championships follow from there.

What government schemes support Padel athletes?▾

TOPS does not apply, as Padel is outside the Olympic programme. State-government cash awards or sports-quota employment can apply where a state notifies the discipline, which varies by state. Padel does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, so we make no Khelo India claim for it.

Padel in every state & UT

Dedicated pages for Padel in each Indian state and Union Territory — academies, schemes, athletes and how to start.