Armaan Bhatia showcased his stellar form once again to reach the mixed doubles finals of India Masters Pickleball Championship at the DLTA stadium on Saturday. Along with his partner Roos Van Reek of the Netherlands, Bhatia defeated the Indo – Australian pair of Vishal Masand and Sarah Burr 11-5,11-1 to reach the final decider match. The 25 year old player and his Dutch partner will now face the tandem George Wall and Danni Townsend in order to win the penultimate clash.
Notably, Bhatia is the only contest in the $50,000 event to compete in three finals at the Pickleball Championship on Sunday and is hoping for a ‘hat-trick’ of wins. Apart from the mixed doubles final, Bhatia will also competing in the men’s doubles finals with Harsh Mehta and men’s singles event.
In the prior encounter, Bhatia and Van Reek had defeated the Australian pair of Kaitlynn Hart and Mitchell Hargreaves in straight sets (7-0 and 11-1) in order to make their way to the semi-finals. Meanwhile, George Wall and Danni Townsend had defeated the Australian-US pair of Emilia Schmidt and Casey Diamond in a closely fought semi-final clash.
Armaan Bhatia says ‘game will be fun’:
“I am looking forward to playing against Danni (E Townsend) during our Pro (Open) Mixed Doubles tomorrow. We have some fun banter on the court, so the game will be fun…Winning all three matches tomorrow will definitely be my favourite thing!” Armaan was quoted as saying by Filmfare
Bhatia, who is considered as one of the brightest stars in Indian picketball space, had only started playing the sport professionally last September and is a failed tennis player. The young player stated that he put his focus on picketball during the COVID lockdown where outdoor activities were suspended and picketball turned his refuge.
On the transition from tennis to basketball, Bhatia said (as quoted by Pickleball Now),”I think pickleball began just because I was playing tennis, and during the rainy season, I started playing the game for fun. Eventually, I started playing it even more during the monsoons in Mumbai, which can be non-stop at times. We also had a covered court. But then, in 2022, there was a professional tournament which I played in Mumbai. From that point, it just started growing on me, and I began playing more competitively. It was finally in August 2023 that I started playing pickleball professionally full-time,”
When and where to watch Armaan Bhatia pickleball match?
The PWR DUPR India Masters mixed doubles finals can be watched Sports Now, Zoom TV, Mirror Now, Times Now and DD sports broadcast. The live broadcast on Doordarshan will begin from 4PM onwards on Sunday.
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