Back in the 1980s, Petulia Balaji had her sights set on becoming a javelin thrower, her ambition fuelled by a gold medal at the state school games in Tamil Nadu.
But the dream was short-lived. Financial constraints forced her to give up her sporting ambitions.
Nearly five decades later, she has found her way back to the sporting arena – this time through pickleball.
Petulia, a passionate player and staunch advocate of the sport, is set to represent India at the Pickleball World Cup in Da Nang, Vietnam, from August 30 to September 6. She will compete in four events – women’s singles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles and the team event – in the 60+ age division.
She booked her place in the Indian team after winning the , a PWR 400 event that served as the selection trials for the master categories for the World Cup.
“I was an athlete when I was young, and basically, I was a javelin thrower and won gold in school games in Tamil Nadu. Javelin was one of the sports which was promoted in our high school then along with shot put and discus throw. Apart from that there was tennis. But since it was pretty expensive I never could play,” Petulia told Pickleball Now.
Growing up in a family of six sisters, financial constraints forced her to put her sporting ambitions aside early and take up a job as ground staff with Lufthansa German Airlines at Chennai International Airport. After 13 years of service, she went on to build a career in the travel industry, but her fascination with tennis never faded – a sport she had always wanted to play.
“Whenever I got time I played badminton. Other than that, there was no other sport,” said Petulia.
The emergence and rise of pickleball gave her sporting ambitions a new lease of life. “I was 55 when I came across pickleball. At that time I was thinking, ‘Oh, no, what would I do after I retire, and how would I keep myself active?’ Pickleball was like a blessing to me,” Petulia said.
“Staying fit is one of the main criteria. This sport actually has made me more mobile. Earlier I used to suffer a lot of injuries – knee injuries, shoulder injuries. But then this this sport actually made me more confident, you know, in getting rid of all those injuries,” she added.
The sport’s social appeal also attracted her.
“It’s a sport where you meet different type of people from different ages, different races, different categories, and that group, that makes you feel so wanted,” Petulia said.
“Pickleball group is so much different from the other sports where the bonding is so deep, and you create such good friendships in pickleball that you just want to get to the game every day. Even if you miss a day, you feel like as if you’ve missed something in the evening. It’s an addictive sport,” she asserted.
Pioneer of Tamil Nadu pickleball
Now 62, Petulia is one of the pioneers of pickleball in Tamil Nadu and a player who commands respect in the sport’s circle in the state.
A front-court player with a penchant for lobs, Petulia first learnt the ropes of pickleball from Royston Rodrigues, an American coach who frequently travels to Chennai to help grow the sport. What began as a recreational exploration of a new sport by three families at a car park in Kilpauk soon grew into a bigger movement. Petulia is a founding member of the Tamil Nadu Pickleball Association (TNPA). Today, Tamil Nadu boasts around 800 players, while the state capital alone has more than 250 courts.
“Royston Rodrigues, he played an important role in forming the association. At that time, we had only 13 members,” Petulia said.
“We then had 30 and 60 members. In the last three years, it has just boomed and taken off in a way we never expected,” she said.
Ready to go
Over the years, she has honed her game, while the Indian Pickleball Association and the sport’s growing player base have helped fuel her dream.
She is determined to make her chance count in Vietnam after missing out on selection for the World Cup in the US last year. But for Petulia, the journey is about more than her own campaign. She hopes her run will inspire players back home and pave the way for greater representation from Tamil Nadu in the Indian team at future World Cups. For now, she is leaving nothing to chance.
“I have been undergoing a lot of strenuous workouts and also getting coaching from experts in Chennai. I have been training everyday, helping me to stay fit and agile,” Petulia said.