Hyderabad: The second season of the Centre Court Pickleball League (CCPL) is set to begin in Hyderabad on Sunday, October 18, with eight franchises competing for the title. The league stage will feature seven match days, followed by the playoffs on December 5 and the championship final on December 12.
The opening day will be hosted by Chargers at the Centre Court Pickleball Arena, The League, in Hyderabad’s Financial District. Matches will take place on two courts.
Opening-Day Fixtures
Defending champions Mavericks will face Titans on Centre Court at 4 pm, while Dasos Dynamos will play The Raptors on the second court.
The evening fixtures, scheduled for 8 pm, will see Chargers take on Starry Smashers on Centre Court, with All Stars facing Keerthi Warriors on the other court.
Captains and Team Line-ups
The eight franchises have combined returning players with pre-auction signings as they prepare for the new season.
Mavericks: Sreekar Mothukuri
All Stars: Sameer Varma
Titans: Nikhil Tummalapalli
Chargers: Nikit M Reddy
The Raptors: Karunesh Reddy
Dasos Dynamos: Vivek Reddy Priyadarshini
Starry Smashers: Abhaya Vemuri
Keerthi Warriors: Gopinath Reddy
Bigger Budgets and an 80-Player Field
More than 200 players registered for Season 2. Following the auction and pre-auction signings, 80 players have been selected, including 53 men and 27 women. Of these, 73 were bought at auction and seven signed beforehand.
Each franchise’s purse has increased from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh. Teams were also permitted to sign one player before the auction for ₹3 lakh.
Vikrant Rao, co-founder of Centre Court Sports and Entertainment, said the increased budgets gave franchises greater flexibility in squad selection. He noted that teams pursued different strategies, balancing established players with emerging talent.
Sports and Entertainment Figures Join Franchises
The league’s ownership groups include personalities from Indian sport and Telugu cinema. Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal has joined Keerthi Warriors as co-owner, while former badminton world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth has become an investor and partner in Nandi Chargers, as stated in the league announcement.
Actor Sushanth Anumolu owns All Stars. Filmmaker and actor Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam has joined The Raptors as co-owner alongside Kaushik Manepalli and Divya Priyanka Reddy.
Yashwanth Biyyala, co-founder of Centre Court Sports and Entertainment, said the organisers aim to build on the response to the inaugural season by improving the overall match-day experience, including music and food alongside the on-court competition.
