For Viransh Chopra, the road to playing for India at the happened almost by chance. After having spent three years playing tennis, he had no plans to make a switch.
But then his father started playing pickleball with friends at a mall and invited Viransh to give it a try. He enjoyed it and decided to enter a state tournament soon, and won gold.
It proved to be a turning point.
Speaking to Pickleball Now, he said, “I just tried playing, and I liked the sport really well. There was a state tournament coming up, so I registered my name for it, and fortunately I got a gold medal over there.”
It was also there that he met his coach, and it kickstarted a serious obsession with pickleball. Coaching sessions and tournaments became a regular part of his life.
‘I was really confident’
The hard work also saw him secure a spot in India’s U14 squad for the upcoming Pickleball World Cup in Vietnam.
“I was really confident that I would be selected for the team,” he said.
Also, now the challenge is to balance the demands of being a young athlete with school. His day begins early, and his school is nearly an hour away. Classes finish at 2:45 pm, after which he goes to train, reaching the coaching centre by around 4:30 pm.
His training sessions involve warm-ups and basic drills to practice serving and receiving, followed by match situations designed to work on his weaknesses. Then he also has to fit schoolwork around his schedule.
At the World Cup, he will compete in the U14 category. For Chopra, representing India is about much more than the competition itself.
“This is my first time, and I’m extremely happy and proud to be representing India. It’s a huge honour for me,” he said. “It feels amazing to see all my hard work and training pay off,” he said.
‘Playing for India is just not an easy thing to do’
In Vietnam, he will also need to adapt. He is a vegetarian, and he has been researching vegan and vegetarian restaurants ahead of the trip. He also plans to carry food from India. But once the paddle is in his hand, the focus shifts to his performance.
He also wants to be more consistent and learn to manage the pressure that comes with playing for India.
“Playing for India is just not an easy thing to do,” he said.
“I want to work on how to manage my pressure in the games I play and also on my consistency,” he added.