My second trip to India this year after attending the Indian Open back in February. Both these events are run by Global Sports Pickleball, an incredible team comprised of Hemal, Niraj, Divyesh, Suresh, Shashank and Yuvi. I loved my time in Mumbai in February so was really looking forward to this event which I’d heard great things about. This time the tournament was indoors due to it being Monsoon Season.

Flying into Mumbai is something I find incredible, the city is a patchwork of high rise apartment blocks and offices, intermingled with millions of slums, characterized by blue tarpaulins. Between 40%-50% of Mumbai’s population live in the slums which are informal settlements that lack one or more of the following - access to clean water, access to improved sanitation, sufficient living area that is not overcrowded, durable housing and secure tenure. The shortage of affordable housing in Mumbai combined with an influx of people from other areas in India due to growing employment opportunities means that many people living in the slums are not the official poor who live below the poverty line but are in fact the well-educated, middle class who are simply deprived of adequate housing. I’ve made it my mission to learn more about the places I am lucky enough to get to travel to with my pickleball and this trip I really tried to learn more about the makeup of Mumbai. On my next trip I want to visit Dharavi, the biggest slum in Mumbai where an estimated population of 1 million people contribute to a thriving informal economy with an estimated annual turnover of $1 billion.

As players we are incredibly well looked after by the Global Sports team and were accommodated in the Westin Hotel, an incredibly beautiful 5* hotel. On arrival at the hotel the kindness and hospitality of the staff was second to none. The tournament helped us out with drivers to take us between the hotel and the venue, it felt much safer being in a car with these drivers than the taxi drivers of Mumbai! Mumbai has 2 main options for “taxis” (other than ubers). Tuk tuk’s (auto rickshaws) 3 wheeled open sided vehicles, whose drivers are often seen driving barefoot and sitting on one of their legs for comfort (?!). A slightly bigger blue or black and yellow taxi, the blue one that picked me up from the airport was equipped with air conditioning. I would compare an experience in one of these with what I think it would be like to be a part of whacky races, or a real life MarioKart. Mumbai drivers must be some of the most skilled drivers in the world due to the low ratio of accidents compared to the crazy driving. There seem to be no rules when driving in Mumbai, other than get as close to every other vehicle as you can (which is ironic when most cars have written on the back of them “safety first” or “keep your distance”). Beeping your horn is also a must in every single situation just to let every other car know you are coming through no matter what, so they better get out of your way! My taxi driver got annoyed at a small lorry who hadn’t let him in so purposely tried to pretty much ram him off the road. You start off being slightly scared on these journeys but then learn if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry!

The Monsoon Championships was held at the Nesco Exhibition Centre. The GS team transformed a concrete floored exhibition hall into an incredible 18 court sporting arena. Watch the video of how they did this HERE creating a perfect playing surface along with a stadium court with DJ booth to bring a fun, party environment to the event.

One reason I like the Global Sports events in India is because they offer more categories than your average pickleball tournament (similar to the US Open). They offer the pro and amateur categories and then in addition offer 30+ categories as well as split age (under and over 35) gender doubles.

This tournament I played in the Pro Women’s Singles, Pro Women’s Doubles (with Isha Lakhani), Pro Mixed Doubles (with Jason Taylor), 30+ Women’s Doubles (with Megan Fudge) and the Split Age Women’s Doubles (with Pei). I started the week on Thursday with Pro Women’s Singles. Coming through my group I got to play the wonderful Priyanka Mehta in the round of 16. I had played her in singles in the English Open and knew she would be tough opposition. She is the current Number 1 in India on the ITF Masters tennis rankings for the 40+ category. I love that pickleball brings together so many incredible athletes of all ages with experience in many different sports. I came through a tight match with her to setup a quarter final rematch with Roos Van Reek. I played Roos in an epic quarter final singles match in the English Open and who, in the last 4 tournaments we have both been at, we’ve played each other a total of 11 times. I love playing Roos, we always have the most incredible battles, and she is one of the fairest players I’ve come across on tour, as well as being one of the kindest. I managed to come out on top, playing some of my best pickleball to win 11-8, 11-8. I know I will have many more incredible battles with Roos and will always look forward to them. My semi-final ended up starting at 10pm after pretty much everyone had left the venue. I managed to come through another incredible battle with Emilia Schmidt (Aus) 10-11, 11-0, 11-8, reaching my first ever final to be played on a Championship Sunday. I was so proud of my efforts and performances reaching the singles final that really everything else for the remaining 3 days was a bonus.

Friday was mixed doubles day where I got to play with another very good tennis player, Jason Taylor from Australia. We had an absolute blast, what a fun person Jason is to share the court with. He has been playing pickleball less than 6 months but is an incredible athlete who is going to rise to the top of the game very quickly. We had a great run to the quarter finals where we were stopped in our tracks by Megan Fudge and Armaan Bhatia, who went on to win gold in the mixed doubles.

Saturday, I had a double whammy of 2 events, 30+ Women’s Doubles followed by Pro Women’s Doubles. It was an honour to get to play the 30+ category with such an accomplished player as Megan Fudge and learn from her vast experience. We came away with gold after an intense and closely contested final with Isha and Sarah Burr. Pretty much straight away I had to get ready for the Pro Women’s Doubles with Isha. One minute she’d been my opponent and the next minute she was my partner. Having played a few matches on the Championship Court, I quickly learned it was way more humid on that court than any other court in the venue, probably due to the fact it was more enclosed and had more people watching and surrounding the court. I really struggled with the first women’s pro doubles match due to my body overheating from the previous match on Championship Court. Luckily Isha carried me through. We came through our group against some amazing young and talented Indian players, and then came through our quarter final and semi final to make the final on Championship Sunday!

I definitely felt the effects of all of the previous days matches by the time it came to Sunday. The day started with the Split Age Women’s Doubles event that I was playing with Pei. We had a great run to the final where we came up against the NZ / Aussie team of Katy Hart and Sarah Burr who produced better pickleball than us to take the Gold. Playing with Pei is always fun, we’ve played together so much that we know how to pick each other up when the other one is struggling and our games compliment each other really well. As had happened the day before, my partner became my opponent. Shortly after finishing the split age event, we had the singles final against each other. I started the match really well, managing to execute things I was trying to work on but sadly couldn’t keep the consistency throughout the match and Pei got the better of me. I was however so proud of getting a silver medal in a draw of incredible female singles players. I had a one match break before my women’s doubles final with Isha.

I really tried to take in the atmosphere of getting to play on an incredible centre court with so much production (thanks DJ Sippy) and support during this final. As players, sometimes we are so focussed in on the matches we forget to appreciate the amazing situations and atmospheres we are lucky enough to play in. Sadly, it wasn’t to be for me and Isha in the final. Megan and Naimi played too well and beat us in straight sets. It was so much fun getting to play alongside Isha, she is a fierce competitor and fighter.

The Monsoon Championships 2024, Mumbai, India

English Open, August 2024