WPBL Season 2: Bengaluru Jawans Eye Repeat Title As Katerina Stewart Leads

The World Pickleball League is preparing for WPBL Season 2 in Mumbai, and defending champions Bengaluru Jawans enter with higher targets as Katerina Stewart returns to spearhead the squad. Stewart seeks another strong campaign, while the franchise looks to deepen its identity and keep pace with a league that is expanding in both size and rivalry.

As Season 2 nears its January 27 start, Stewart has also fixed a clear personal marker. The target is to enter the Top 10 in every professional division by the end of 2025. This ambition adds another layer to Bengaluru Jawans' plans, combining team goals with Stewart's individual push on the global pickleball calendar.

WPBL Season 2 will open in Mumbai with Bengaluru Jawans facing Pune United FC in the

first fixture, a repeat of the high-intensity flavour that defined the inaugural edition. The league has added more teams and storylines, which increases overall competitiveness while keeping the franchise format central to India's major pickleball event.

The defending champions approach the new season with continuity in leadership as well. The team will again be guided by coach Oliver Strecker, whose experience supports the tactical side of their campaign. Stewart's return gives the Jawans a familiar core, and management hopes this blend of stability and ambition sustains their championship standards.

Stewart's influence in WPBL Season 1 stood out through composure under pressure and tactical reading of key moments. Those traits often shifted close ties in favour of Bengaluru Jawans and turned Stewart into the side's anchor figure. Many of Bengaluru's crucial wins arrived in matches where Stewart steadied momentum and helped partners settle.

Before moving fully into pickleball, Stewart built a base in tennis, reaching a career-high WTA singles ranking of 158. The switch to pickleball brought a new challenge, and Stewart now competes full-time on the PPA and APP tours. That schedule has produced multiple APP Tour gold medals, including at the Great Lakes Michigan Open, and wins over Jorja Johnson and Mari Humberg.