The president of the Indian Pickleball Association (IPA), Suryaveer Singh Bhullar, is heading to Fort Lauderdale in Florida as part of India’s three-team contingent for the Pickleball World Cup 2025. He will do so with dual roles, and he is ready for both.
Bhullar, obviously, will be in Florida as the president of the IPA, which this year earned official recognition as the National Sports Federation (NSF) for pickleball by India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). This huge development occurred under Bhullar’s tireless and visionary leadership, and he continues to lead the IPA. In fact, the association itself was responsible for forming the teams that India will be sending to Florida for the prestigious tournament, which will take place from 27 October to 2 November 2025.
The affable leader of the IPA, though, isn’t just flying to Florida as the chief executive of India’s pickleball governing body. He will also go there as a player and will try to help India prove to the pickleball world that the country is “a competitive force in the making.” Specifically, Bhullar will captain India’s Seniors 50+, which together with the Juniors and Open category teams, are “a proud culmination of years of effort,” according to Bhullar.
“To lead our first official national contingent, comprising the Under-16 Juniors, the Open category, and the Seniors 50+ team, which I captain, is the highest honour. It validates that our holistic growth model is working and India is ready for the world stage,” Bhullar told Times Now in an interview.
Bhullar, of course, deserves a lot of credit for making this growth model work. Both as a player and as an official, Bhullar has been at the heart of India’s growing pickleball movement, and his and Team India’s participation in the Pickleball World Cup is certainly a milestone for the country’s pickleball community and for Bhullar himself.
Now, Bhullar will be front and centre as Team India looks to make more history and mark more milestones—this time on the international stage.
