Mumbai, Sep 8 : Quang Duong of Vietnam at Rs 27 lakh emerged as the top pick while Harsh Mehta attracted the highest bid of Rs 21 lakh among the Indians in the players' auction for Global Sports Pickleball's Season 2 Pro & Challenger League conducted here on Monday.

While Quang Duong was snapped up by the Mumbai Chhatrapati Warriors, Megan Fudge (USA) was picked by Ahmedabad Olympians for '25.50 lakh; Jack Munro (USA) went to Jaipur Stallions for '25 lakh; Bobbi Oshiro (USA) bagged the highest bid of '24.50 lakh from Delhi Snipers and Roos Van Reek (Netherlands) was taken by Hyderabad Vikings for '23.50 lakh.

The landmark event witnessed '6.6 crore worth of potential spends across 10 teams, making it Asia's biggest pickleball auction to date.

The Top 3 Indian Pro League picks at the auction were: Harsh Mehta, who went for '21 lakh to Chennai Cool Cats, Arjun Singh got the highest bid of '8 lakh from Nashik Ninjas, while Aditya Ruhela was picked for '5 lakh by Jaipur Stallions.

The auction saw fierce bidding for marquee global signings and rising Indian talent stepping into the spotlight'cementing pickleball's rise as one of India's fastest-growing professional sports.

While the 19-year-old Quang Duong was at the forefront of the exuberance of the young, seasoned pros like 38-year-old Megan Fudge add some serious international know-how to the league. And it's not just about the top Pro League deals'there was plenty of excitement in the Challenger League too, with up-and-coming stars and Indian players stepping into the limelight.

The Pro League had three player categories, whereas the Challenger League had two. For the Pro League, starting bids ranged from '2.5 lakh to '8 lakh, based on the players' skill levels.

In the Challenger League, base bids started at '50,000 and could go up to '1.5 lakh. Since the picklers had international exposure and were quite popular, a lot of them ended up selling for much higher prices.

Each team was given a total player budget of '66 lakh to '55 lakh for the Pro League and '11 lakh for the Challenger League'allowing for a total spending capacity of '6.6 crore across ten teams.

All ten franchises, which include Ahmedabad Olympians, Bengaluru Blazers, Chennai Cool Cats, Coimbatore Super Smashers, Delhi Snipers, Hyderabad Vikings, Jaipur Stallions, Kolkata Kingz, Mumbai Chhatrapati Warriors, and Nashik Ninjas, participated in both leagues.

Some key highlights include:

Top Pro League Signings: Quang Duong ('27L), Megan Fudge ('25.5L), Jack Munro ('25L), Bobbi Oshiro ('24.5L), Roos Van Reek ('23.5L).

Top Challenger League Picks: Leah Tauber ('5.2L), Mihika Yadav ('4.4L), Alex Emery ('4.2L).

Notable Indian Picks: Harsh Mehta ('21L), Arjun Singh ('8L), Mihika Yadav ('4.4L), Aman Patel ('4L).

The top 3 Indian Pro League picks were:

Harsh Mehta ' '21 lakh ' Chennai Cool Cats

Arjun Singh ' '8 lakh ' Nashik Ninjas

Aditya Ruhela ' '5 lakh ' Jaipur Stallions

Top 3 Indian Challenger League picks:

Mihika Yadav ' '4.4 lakh ' Mumbai Chhatrapati Warriors

Aman Patel ' '4 lakh ' Jaipur Stallions

Tejas Gulati ' '3.7 lakh ' Coimbatore Super Smashers

/IANS