Soft Tennis in Lakshadweep

Reviewed profileAchievements, tournaments, coaches and FAQs on this page are compiled by hand from federation, government and press reporting, drawing on The Bridge — Aniket Patel funding challenges interview, Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India (softtennis.in), Wikipedia — Soft tennis at the Asian Games, International Soft Tennis Federation (softtennis-istf.com). 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: Japan, 1880s
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: Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India
Ministry recognition: Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India — Annual recognition renewed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — as at 2026Source: Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — List of recognised National Sports Federations
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

Soft Tennis is listed on SportSupport in the racquet category. Its recorded origin is Japan, 1880s. It is not on the Olympic programme. We list Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India as the Indian governing/organising body for the sport.

Soft Tennis has a federation and state-level pathway in India, and athletes selected through Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India 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 soft tennis 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 soft tennis.
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 soft tennis 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 soft tennis events and which certifying bodies a state accepts varies by state, so check your state's current notification.

Explore all government schemes →

Indian Players

No profiles yet

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

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Rules

Soft tennis uses the same court and basic scoring framework as conventional tennis but is played with a light, air-filled rubber ball (roughly 30 g) and a thin, lightweight racket, so rallies rely on placement and touch rather than raw power. Only one serve is allowed — there is no second serve — and the serve is struck after the server bounces the ball themselves, which removes the big-serve advantage. Matches are played as singles or doubles, with doubles the traditional and dominant format; games are scored to four points and sets are usually decided at four games with a tiebreak, under International Soft Tennis Federation (ISTF) rules. Because the ball compresses on impact, spin and drop-shot play are central, and a let is called for interference or a ball striking the net posts.

Authoritative rulebook: Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India. 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 soft tennis 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 soft tennis at a federation-recognised event.

Soft tennis racket — thin-shafted and much lighter than a conventional tennis racket
Air-filled rubber soft tennis ball (approx. 30 g), the sport's defining implement
Standard tennis-dimension court with net at regulation height
Non-marking court shoes suited to hard or clay surfaces
Team/national jerseys, wristbands and spare balls
Net posts, measuring tape and court-marking equipment

Governing/organising body

Body listed on SportSupport

Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India

Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India is the body we list as the Indian governing/organising body for Soft Tennis. Its recognition status as we hold it: Annual recognition renewed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (as at 2026). Recognition is granted year by year, so read the federation profile for the source.

Origin: Japan, 1880s
Olympic: No
Paralympic: No
Category: Racquet

ASTFI profile →All federations →

Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in soft tennis.

National Soft Tennis Championship
Held annually since 2003 (per National Games records), organized by the Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India (ASTFI), which introduced the sport to India in 2002 under founding secretary general J.K. Khodadhara. It took seven years of effort before ASTFI achieved official recognition from the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and the IOA; it now has 26 state and union territory associations.

International Events

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

Asian Games
Soft tennis has been a medal sport since Hiroshima 1994 (a demonstration sport at Beijing 1990). India's team achieved a surprising 5th-place finish in the team event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games (held 2023), beating former champions Cambodia and other strong sides including Chinese Taipei and Indonesia.
World Soft Tennis Championships
Held every four years since 1975, with athletes from around 65 countries competing.

Leagues

No dedicated professional league is currently catalogued for soft tennis. The national championship under Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India remains the top domestic competition.

All leagues →

International Players

Globally recognised soft tennis athletes to know outside India.

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

Career Options

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

Aniket Patel — a former national No. 1 (2022) who represented India at two Asian Games (2018, 2022) — has spoken publicly about the funding challenges facing soft tennis players in India, noting his team received just a 10-day training camp before Hangzhou 2023 while competing nations trained for months or years
Patel chose soft tennis over a more conventional path as a software engineer, illustrating the sport's genuine reliance on personal commitment over institutional support
Playing pathway through ASTFI's state associations, particularly active in Gujarat
Coaching pathway through ASTFI, affiliated to both the Asian and South Asian Soft Tennis Federations

Explore sports careers →Coaches directory →

Related academies

0 listed

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

All academies →List your academy →

Government Schemes

2 listed

Central and state schemes that fund training, stipends and awards for soft tennis athletes and academies.

All government schemes →

FAQs

Common questions about soft tennis in India.

Who governs Soft Tennis in India?▾

We list Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India as the Indian governing/organising body for Soft Tennis, 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 Soft Tennis an Olympic sport?▾

No, Soft Tennis is not on the Olympic programme.

How do I start playing Soft Tennis 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 Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India. Age-group state championships follow from there.

What government schemes support Soft Tennis athletes?▾

TOPS does not apply, as Soft Tennis 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. Soft Tennis does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, so we make no Khelo India claim for it.

Soft Tennis in every state & UT

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