IPA Launches Selection Process for Da Nang as India Looks to Build on Last Year’s Pickleball World Cup Bronze
India arrived at the last Pickleball World Cup as debutants. They left with 25 medals and seventh place on the overall tally—the only Asian nation in the top ten. Now the Indian Pickleball Association (IPA) is building the squad to do it again, and then some.
The IPA has formally launched its selection process for the Pickleball World Cup 2026, scheduled for Da Nang, Vietnam from 30 August to 6 September. The campaign covers every competitive category—Open, 50+, 60+, and Juniors—making it one of the most comprehensive national team efforts India has mounted in the sport to date.
Selection criteria are built around performance. Results from the IPA National Championships and all sanctioned events leading up to the Picklebay Zonals—the final qualifying benchmark before the squad announcement—will form the basis of the committee’s decisions. Priority goes to players holding top-tier global rankings, with fitness, current form, and performance across singles, doubles, and mixed doubles all factored in. Every shortlisted player must sign a Performance Agreement committing to international competition fitness standards, full medical transparency, and adherence to the IPA Code of Conduct. The committee also retains the discretion to award wild card entries to players of exceptional potential or strategic value.
IPA president Suryaveer Singh Bhullar framed the process around the standard India set in the United States—and the expectation to raise it.
“At the previous World Cup held in the United States—India’s first-ever appearance at the global stage—Team India delivered a stunning performance, securing 25 medals, finishing seventh in the overall medals tally, and emerging as the only Asian nation in the top 10,” Bhullar said. “The selection process for Vietnam is designed to honour that standard and raise it further.”
For the junior category, a dedicated selection trial is being held in Ahmedabad from 12 to 14 June, with the junior squad determined from those trials alongside year-round performances in IPA-sanctioned events.
The campaign also has institutional backing. The Indian Pickleball League franchise Lucknow Leopards will serve as the principal benefactor for Team India’s Open category participation, providing top athletes with the resources to compete at the highest level. The partnership signals a growing connection between domestic league infrastructure and international ambition—the kind of pipeline that sustains a programme beyond a single strong result.
India went to the United States as a first-timer and finished seventh in the world. Vietnam is the next test of whether that was a debut or a direction.
