Armaan Bhatia might be the hottest name in international pickleball right now. The 26 year old is coming off a triple crown at the PWR DUPR India Masters in October and he is ready for the world stage in 2025.
Armaan sat down with Thomas and Zane for an episode of the Picklepod Podcast
Growing up and family athletic background
When someone in your family tree has a nickname of the “Sultan of Swing” in India cricket circles, chances are you are going to be athletic.
Armaan’s grandfather, Abdul Ismail, is known as the “Sultan of Swing” for his bowling prowess in cricket in the 1970’s. The name comes from his mastery of the “outswing” bowl. He competed at the highest level in India, and in 75 matches, he averaged 18.04 wickets, totaling 244. Later on in his career, he became a selector for the Mumbai Cricket Association.
The family athleticism didn’t stop there. Armaan’s uncle, Asif Ismail, played tennis at an extremely high level. In fact, he competed for both India and Hong Kong in the Davis Cup. Asif reached as high as 412 in the world in 1995.
Armaan’s parents were both very good badminton players in their own rights. It comes as no surprise that Armaan, and his younger brother Aryaan, are very good in racquet/paddle sports and are very athletic. Aryaan attended Merrimack College in Massachusetts and captained the tennis team - he started playing pickleball two months ago.
Tennis in India
Armaan started playing tennis at the age of five and trained at the Khar Gymkhana in Mumbai, India, while growing up. He won the Indian Open Nationals at the age of 17 and played until 2019, when the COVID-19 pandemic happened. The lockdown was very strict in India and Armaan would have had to start back up from scratch to make it in pro tennis and decided to not pursue that endeavor further.
Move to pickleball
Once the pandemic restrictions lifted, Armaan found pickleball. He didn’t get hooked as quickly as some other pros I have talked to, but let me tell you now - he is obsessed.
Armaan’s first pro tournament was the 2022 Bainbridge Cup in Mumbai. Armaan didn’t play much pickleball outside of Mumbai until 2024.
In November 2023, Armaan decided to go all in on pickleball and started training and playing full-time.
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The first tournament Armaan played in 2024 was the Global Sports India Open in Feberuary, 2024.
Armaan earned gold in men’s singles and silver in men’s doubles with his regular men’s partner, Harsh Mehta.
Next up, Armaan was drafted to the Northern Crocs in Season 1 of MLP Australia. At the time, he only had a 4.5 DUPR. He joined Neilsen Chen, Sommer Dalla-Bna, and Roos van Reek. They won two events in Season 1, and were crowned champions!
In addition, Armaan won gold in men’s singles at the PPA Tour Australia - Brisbane Championships.
In April 2024, Armaan and Harsh came to the USA for the first time to play pickleball. They played in the MINTO US Open Championships in Naples, Florida. While he didn’t have as much success in singles as he wanted, Harsh and Armaan made it out of men’s doubles qualifiers and made the main draw.
Armaan and Harsh showed great mental fortitude, losing in the first round to Ross Whittaker and Brandon Lane, 10-12 in the third. In the back draw, they beat Eric Oncins and Ronan Camron, Jack Foster and Robert Davidson, and Johnny Goldberg and Nick Acevedo. In the fifth place match, they actually beat Whittaker and Lane, 15-11, exacting revenge for the main draw loss.
Armaan then got drafted 10th overall in MLP Australia Season 2, to the Eastern Rush, where he made two appearances for the team.
At the Skechers English Open Powered by the APP, Armaan and Harsh again played well, earning a bronze medal in men’s doubles, while playing against some high level Americans and international players.
From there, Armaan and Harsh won PPA Australia Gold Coast, the Hong Kong Open, and the World Pickleball Championships in Bali. Armaan also won two men’s singles titles at those tournaments.
The Triple Crown
If you Google Armaan Bhatia, I am very confident you will see a bunch of articles about his triple crown. Armaan’s ascent into the international pickleball universe has been on a nearly straight upward trajectory in 2024. The PWR DUPR India Masters solidified Armaan as a force to be reckoned with.
At the PWR DUPR India Masters in October 2024, Armaan took home a triple crown.
In singles, he was able to beat American, Dusty Boyer in the finals. In mixed doubles, Armaan and Roos Van Reek (former teammates on the Northern Crocs) and took out Danni-Elle Townsend and George Wall (both MLP Australia players) in the final.
In men’s doubles, Armaan and Harsh beat Aussie Mitch Hargreaves and American, Roman Estareja to win it all.
The future is bright for Armaan
Armaan’s rise in pickleball has been fast! Earlier this year his DUPR was a 4.5 and as of publication, it is a 6.2, on par with many of the top male pros in the USA.
Speaking of the USA, since Armaan has picked up pickleball so quickly and won a ton of tournaments this year on the international level, he should be content taking a break in India and relaxing, right?
Wrong! Instead, Armaan traveled to the United States during the first week of December to endure a grueling week-long training session in Austin, Texas. Many pros train and create content at The Lab, a pickleball facility started by Ryan Dawidjan and Carlos Di Laura.
Armaan was able to train with pros such as Zane Navratil, Michael Loyd, Dekel Bar, Jack Munro, Wyatt Stone, and John Cincola, among others. He did this training while Dawidjan, the Coach and General Manager of the Texas Ranchers, of Major League Pickleball, watched and coached him throughout the week.
On Armaan’s ability and play level, Ryan had this to say:
“Right now, Armaan is an MLP Challenger Level player and I think the Challenger GMs should be seriously considering him in 2025. He is a very good mover and uses his length very well at the kitchen line with a good backhand flick. His rise has been quick, but if he is training as hard as he did with us this week, he will continue to improve at a very fast pace.”
Bhatia has fully developed the pickleball obsession so many of us have. The sky is the limit for Armaan in 2025. While there are many playing options for Armaan in 2025, signing him will be a top priority for the pickleball tours, worldwide.
