Paddle Partner
Velka is backing the Cup
Velka is the Paddle Partner of the Mumbai Pickleball Cup. They build the Oxira, a control paddle designed and engineered in India for players who would rather place the ball than hit through it.
Mumbai Pickleball Cup S2 · 27 September 2026 · Stratum Play, Malad West, Mumbai
- 14 mm and 16 mm
- Oxira
- Carbon fibre face
- T700
- Average weight
- 8.0 oz
- Tournament compliant
- USAP
Why it matters that they are here
Somebody is building paddles here
Good paddles have been an import problem in India for years: by the time an international brand's carbon paddle reaches you, it costs more than the racket most people play tennis with. Velka started because a player got tired of that and went and built his own. The Oxira is the result.
A paddle built for control
The Oxira is not a power paddle and does not pretend to be. It is built around holding the ball a fraction longer so you can put it where you meant to. In a format like ours, where group matches are a single race to 15, the points go to whoever misses least rather than whoever hits hardest.
They publish the real numbers
Weight, swing weight, twist weight, balance point, core thickness, face material. Most paddles sold here tell you a price and a colour. Being able to compare specs is how you work out what suits your game instead of buying on a photograph, whoever you end up buying from.
Local tournaments need local backers
A neighbourhood cup in Malad West is not where a brand goes looking for attention. Velka put their name to one anyway, and that is the sort of support that keeps entry fees where they are and gets a second season played at all.
The Oxira
The Oxira comes in a 14 mm and a 16 mm core, both in an elongated shape, with a three-layer T700 carbon face left raw so the weave itself grips the ball. The thicker 16 mm core is the softer, more forgiving of the two; the 14 mm gives up some of that cushion for a quicker, livelier response.
The rest is Velka's own engineering, and they have given all of it names: a layup tuned to hold the ball longer, a frame heat-pressed into a single body rather than glued together in layers, foam lining the inside of the edge walls, a stabiliser down the handle, and a honeycomb core mapped to widen the sweet spot. What it adds up to is a paddle that stays predictable on the shots you did not quite middle.
Who Velka are
Velka did not start in a boardroom. It started with a player who was annoyed: the paddles around him were expensive and did not play the way he wanted, and they turned up in bubble wrap as though nobody cared. He spent months reading about how paddles are actually made, built a prototype for himself, and found that the people he played with wanted to borrow it.
The name is meant to be velocity and skill together, which is a fair description of what the game asks of you. They are a young brand and a small one, and they have chosen to spend some of what they have on a neighbourhood tournament in Mumbai. We think that says something, and we are glad to have them.
Mumbai Pickleball Cup S2
Come and play the Cup on 27 September 2026
Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles at Stratum Play, Malad West, Mumbai. 16 entries a category, at least 3 matches guaranteed, ₹1,500 per entry, and a ₹30,000 prize pool. Entries close 25 September 2026.
The Velka name, the Oxira and the product photography on this page are the property of Velka, shown here with their agreement as Paddle Partner of the Mumbai Pickleball Cup.