AmBank Malaysia Pickleball Championship Returns in June—and It Promises to Be Bigger, Better
The AmBank Malaysia Pickleball Championship is coming back—and it is bringing more players, more countries, and more prize money with it.
The second edition of the tournament is set for 19 to 21 June 2026 at PLAYA Racquet Club, with organisers Score Sports Management expanding the field to over 600 competitors from 10 countries. That is a meaningful step up from last year’s inaugural edition, which drew 500 players. The prize purse has grown accordingly—from RM50,000 to RM66,000.
The field will be international in the truest sense. Alongside Malaysian players, competitors are expected from South Africa, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Singapore—a list that reflects just how broadly pickleball’s competitive community has spread across regions that barely registered the sport a few years ago.
The competition is structured across three categories—novice, intermediate, and open—ensuring that the expanded field is not simply adding elite players but widening the door for those at every stage of their pickleball journey.
SCORE chief executive officer Patricia Tan framed the tournament’s purpose in terms that go beyond the competitive format. “Our goal is to promote a healthy lifestyle—we want to bring the community together,” she said. “The competition is about creating a platform where players can compete seriously, while keeping the sport accessible and inclusive.”
That combination—genuine competition alongside genuine accessibility—is what has made pickleball’s growth in Malaysia sustainable rather than fleeting. A sport that works only for advanced players has a ceiling. One that brings in novices alongside open-category competitors, with a proper prize purse on the line, builds something with staying power.
The tournament is supported by Franklin, Sports Sync Asia, Karta, ALIR, and PLAYA Racquet Club, among others.
If last year’s edition proved the concept, this June is about proving the scale.
(Interested? Click HERE to register.)
