Padel, the racquet sport that was born in 1969 in Mexico — with the first FIPWorld Padel Championships held in Spain, dating back to 1992, according to the International Padel Federation website — is having its moment. Elite athletes across sports like Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Rafael Nadal, Lionel Messi, Serena Williams and Max Verstappen, among others, have taken to the sport, giving it a fillip. Like idols, like fans.
India too is seeing a surge in padel love, and closer home, it’s growing on our City of Joy, too, slowly and steadily.
“It’s one of those sports like pickleball, which is sort of becoming popular globally over the last four-five years,” says Atishay Agarwal, co-owner, The Padel Club, the first padel facility in Calcutta, located at 144 Remount Road (near Majerhat Bridge, Alipore), that just celebrated its first anniversary in October. Nilesh Bansal and Rachana Agarwal are the other co-owners of The Padel Club, which has three courts (two doubles, one singles).
Apart from The Padel Club, Turf XL in New Alipore, and Ballygunge Arena on Anil Maitra Road are also popular spots to indulge your padel passion.
Atishay, who heads marketing for Delhi Capitals, heard about the rising popularity of padel in India from friends living in other parts of the country. “I, obviously, have been working in sports for many years, so I generally have an idea. I was living in Mumbai till 2020, and then I moved back to Calcutta five years ago. I’ve been playing tennis regularly as well since then. You keep reading and seeing, you know, pickleball is coming up, and padel is coming up. Padel had sort of already started to become very popular in Mumbai and in Bangalore, a little bit in Delhi as well, say two years back. In Mumbai, it has now really exploded. You can’t get a court for weeks. Everyone, from Hindi film actors to cricketers in their free time, is playing. And, all the rich and famous in Mumbai are playing,” he says. He teamed up with his tennis doubles partner, Nilesh, to bring padel to Calcutta.
“As ironic as it sounds, but I’d only heard about it, read about it and watched it, but the first time I played was on our court in Calcutta,” he laughs. His take on the sport? “My experience as a player, because I played a lot of cricket when I was growing up, also football, as a workout, padel is incredible,” he says.
In love language, it’s been a slow-burn relationship between padel and Calcutta. “When we opened in October, it was a brand-new sport for the city. So, 95 per cent of people who turned up had never played it before. Only five per cent may have played it in Dubai or Mumbai, or wherever. Nobody had their own racquets or set of balls. Everybody was learning the rules at the facility itself. Obviously, once people started playing, we immediately had a set of people who would keep coming back regularly every week. And then we had our first tournament at the end of December, and about 125 to 130 players turned up for the tournament. It was a huge number. The thing with these racquet sports, let’s say if you’ve played badminton or if you’ve played tennis, or squash or pickleball, there’s a certain amount which comes naturally to you, at least. And then you just adapt your game to that particular sport. My fear was that once winter dips, and it gets hotter, it would slow down, but then we actually saw growth from February onwards.
“Now we have a much larger community that sort of plays regularly, and there is a solid number of bookings on a daily basis. The sport has grown tremendously, I think I would say over the last six months. We had a second tournament in August called the Monsoon Padel League, and the level of padel was miles ahead of what we saw in December. So under a year, Calcutta and people who play here have reached a super level in terms of where they are,” says Atishay.
People across age groups, from 15-55, are falling in love with the sport, which is a testament to its appeal. “And now we’re seeing a lot of women also coming to play regularly as well,” says Atishay.
Richa Daga, a 44-year-old event manager, took it up a year back, and it’s been a whirlwind romance ever since. “I have not been able to stop. It is extremely addictive,” she laughs. She tries her best to play it twice a week and loves how she can padel away all the stress. “You’re just there with the ball, and it’s a great time for me. I’ve played tennis and also football, and badminton, but I have stuck to padel. It’s competitive. You always have to be on edge. You are actually trying to better your game because you want to do better than what you did yesterday. It’s extremely demanding, and you have to be physically fit, running, and agile,” she says. Richa is still learning the tricks of the trade and often enjoys a game of padel with her children and nephews on weekends. “Instead of going to a mall or going here and there, we’d rather go and play padel,” she says. And, yes, The Padel Club feels like a “second home”.
Like Richa, Sapt Rishi Goenka, 23, too, fell in love with padel once he started playing it around six months back on the insistence of his friends. “I started playing pickleball when I was in the US, and when I came back in 2024, I continued playing pickleball until my friends forced me to start playing padel. At that time, the only court in Calcutta was The Padel Club on Remount Road. I loved it so much that since April, to now, I have only played two more games of pickleball, and I have played, I think, more than 100 games of padel. I end up playing three or four times a week now. I find it to be more intense, and the rallies go on for longer. The court is much softer than a pickleball court, so even if I slip and fall, which I don’t, but that comfort in your head is there that if I fall, I won’t break my leg!” he laughs.
Sapt Rishi, who is a part of his family business, feels it’s easier to learn. “I would say that’s what’s making it attractive for people who’ve not had a racquet sport experience earlier. It’s also easier to find people at the times you want to play padel with, timing-wise as well, because it’s not like you have to have a club membership or you have to be a member of some elite organisation to play tennis at that facility. You can just pay and play, and it’s open for all, so it’s quite convenient,” he says.
Karan Dhillon, 36, who is in the finance business, feels padel helps his tennis. “I feel like the sport came naturally to me. I play padel once a week and stay true to my roots, and play tennis at least once a week. The reaction speed and the levels that we require in padel are also quite high. It’s quite a technical game, a mix of tennis and squash. So, you don’t get bored with it easily. There’s a lot of scope for improvement. It’s not like I would say pickleball, where you pick it up, and you reach a fairly decent level quickly. There’s a lot of struggle in this sport. So, you find people who have played serious sports, being more attracted to this sport because mentally, it’s quite challenging as well, because you’re using different walls and a lot of movement and fitness are required,” he says.
For Saurav Singh, 39, a businessman, padel is a lot of fun. “I’ve been playing tennis for four years, and it’s more about practice. Once or twice a week, I play padel. I tried pickleball as well, but pickleball was like, no chance. Tennis is my first love. And padel is developing to be there. It’s a good sport, and you can play wherever. It’s easier to carry your racquet while travelling,” he says.
Atishay likens padel’s social currency to that of golf in the corporate or business sectors. “When you go to Mumbai or when you go to Dubai and when you meet people, everyone’s playing padel,” he says.
The Padel Club saw a bunch of cricketers drop by in the Indian Premier League months. You can book courts on Hudle, “an aggregator”, or directly with The Padel Club. They also offer coaching classes.
Atishay, from his experience, feels padel is here to stay. “Just the fact that there are two more facilities now is a testament to the fact that the city has now adopted the sport and people are now catching on to the popularity of the sport,” he signs off.