Sri Lanka’s first pickleball league serves on Friday
Eight franchises, a player auction and a cricketer in the owners’ box. The Ceylon Pickle League runs 16 to 18 October at the Colombo Pickle Club.
Less than three years after the first courts opened in Moratuwa, pickleball in Sri Lanka is getting a professional league. The Ceylon Pickle League, the country’s first franchise competition in the sport, plays its opening season this Friday to Sunday at the Colombo Pickle Club on Torrington Avenue.
How it works
The league borrows the model cricket fans know from the IPL and LPL. Owners buy a franchise, players go through selection and an auction, and teams carry a city’s name. The eight are the Colombo Aces, Kandy Knights, Galle Kings, Trinco Titans, Yarl Dinkers, Ella Archers, Bentota Nyners and Weligama Sharks. They compete across men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles, men’s singles and masters doubles, and players from India are expected in the first edition.
It is run by Eventistry Sports with the Colombo Pickle Club. Sampath Bank is the title partner, and matches will be shown on PEO TV, produced by KSN Live.
“CPL is about far more than pickleball.” Karin Wijeratne, founder, Eventistry Sports
A fast bowler buys in
The best-known owner is Matheesha Pathirana, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, whose first franchise investment is the Yarl Dinkers. “This is more than just a team. It is an idea I truly believe in,” he said when the deal was announced in August.
Why now
Pickleball arrived here in early 2024. By this year, a guide to the island’s courts listed 20 places to play, from Nugegoda to Negombo. “Pickleball has been growing incredibly fast around the world,” said Subraja Subramaniam, co-founder of the Colombo Pickle Club, at the league’s launch in May. The organisers are betting Sri Lanka is ready to follow: a sport that is quick to learn, works for every age, and now has teams to support.
Going
Tickets are sold through the league’s website, ceylonpickleleague.com. New to the sport? Read our guide first: Pickleball has found Colombo.
Sources: Ceylon Pickle League; The Morning (May 2026); Daily FT (June 2026); Sunday Times (June 2026); ThePapare (August 2026).