{"id":48989,"date":"2026-08-19T12:21:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T04:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/?p=48989"},"modified":"2026-08-28T12:23:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T04:23:06","slug":"2026-sarawak-youth-pickleball-open-championship-2-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/?p=48989","title":{"rendered":"2026 Sarawak Youth Pickleball Open Championship 2.0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sarawak Deputy Minister for Tourism Datuk Sebastian Ting said the rapid growth of pickleball in Malaysia, including its gradual introduction into schools, should be supported by more youth competitions to provide young players with greater development opportunities, help professionalise the sport and pave the way for it to potentially become a Malaysia Games (SUKMA) event in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the press conference for the 2026 Sarawak Youth Pickleball Open Championship 2.0, he said the three-day tournament would be held from Aug 31 to Sept 2 at the AGM Pickleball Club in Miri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 100 participants have registered so far, and he expected participation across the various categories to increase this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ting said while sports could be viewed by many as games, entertainment or a way to stay fit, a proper platform for young people to participate and compete was essential if a sport was to grow and become professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the second edition of the championship after it was first held last year. It provides young players from Miri, Sarawak and outside Sarawak with an opportunity to test their abilities and gain experience through competition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he was pleased to see pickleball continuing to grow, with more people taking up the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we want to maintain this momentum and move towards professionalisation, the younger generation must take over and carry the sport forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ting said pickleball was introduced in Malaysia around 2019 and had since gained increasing acceptance, with associations being established at national, state and district levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also thanked all parties for their efforts in promoting and developing pickleball, which had helped establish a more comprehensive organisational structure for the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said promoting pickleball in schools was equally important to allow students to be exposed to the sport from a young age and potentially nurture more young athletes to represent Sarawak in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe pickleball can eventually become a SUKMA event. Around the world, pickleball has developed into a professional sport, with players even able to pursue it as a career,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ting described youth championships such as this as an important platform for nurturing future champions while encouraging the public to take up sports as a recreational activity and a means of fostering social interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome players may go on to reach the highest level, while others may continue because they enjoy the sport and competition. What is important is that we give them the opportunity. This is how we nurture the younger generation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described pickleball as a sport suitable for people of all ages, with relatively affordable participation costs. He said its pace was less intense than badminton and less fast-paced than tennis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The participation of players from different areas, associations and clubs in the Miri tournament, he added, demonstrated the sport’s significant potential for growth in Sarawak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMore importantly, we want to see Sarawak continue contributing to the development of pickleball, not only in Miri or Sarawak, but also to the growth of the sport throughout Malaysia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sarawak Deputy Minister for Tourism Datuk Sebastian Ting said the rapid growth of pickleball in Malaysia, including its gradual introduction into schools, should be supported by more youth competitions to provide young players with greater development opportunities, help professionalise the sport and pave the way for it to potentially become a Malaysia Games (SUKMA) event in the future. Speaking at the press conference for the 2026 Sarawak Youth Pickleball Open Championship 2.0, he said the three-day tournament would be held from Aug 31 to Sept 2 at the AGM PickleballRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48992,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48989\/revisions\/48992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}