Dream Manifesting: Yeo Jih-Shian Lives Out Life’s Wish Thanks to Pickleball, Sypik
Yeo Jih-Shian was a lawyer—and he was relatively successful in his chosen profession.
But like all of us, Yeo had other dreams, even as he carved his niche as one of Singapore’s best lawyers. One of these dreams, however, appeared on the verge of going unrealised. That is, until fate intervened and introduced Yeo to pickleball.
Yeo’s dream? To be a professional athlete. It’s a dream that’s gnawed at him for much of his life as a lawyer. It’s a dream that looked well out of reach, too, considering Yeo is already 56 and close to turning 57.
“Through much of my working life, I always thought, ‘How nice it would be to be like a professional athlete’, but I never thought I would ever become a professional,” Yeo told The Straits Times.
Well, dreams do come true. Yeo’s dream did come true. And he has pickleball to thank.
“I’m really grateful that at the age of 56 going on 57, I can still play, be a professional athlete and play in a professional team and be sponsored for it, because I think in almost no other sport will this happen,” said Yeo, who is one of four athletes signed by global pickleball brand Sypik to its professional team, along with Pini Lee (57 years old), Ping Boon Chia (40 years old), and Zermaine Lew (25 years old).
Yeo Jih-Shian Is Living His Dream Thanks to Pickleball
As part of this professional team, Yeo and company, who all hail from Singapore, will receive a monthly allowance and performance bonuses and get reimbursement for travel expenses for overseas tournaments. And all that is because of pickleball, a sport Yeo describes as “unique” because it lets even older players excel.
“It’s a unique sport in that, in pickleball, you don’t need power and speed, so the older players can still play competitively and beat the younger players,” said Yeo, who who previously played table tennis, badminton, and tennis before getting introduced to pickleball during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yeo Jih-Shian proved to be a natural in pickleball, and soon enough he was winning tournaments—so much that Sypik recognised him and gave him a professional contract. At the time of his signing in June, Yeo was Singapore’s no. 1 player in men’s doubles with a DUPR rating of 5.148.
But as with any other athlete, Yeo will have to face a gruelling grind. That grind is about to get serious and a lot tougher with Yeo and Team Sypik set to compete in the PPA Tour Asia, which will have three stops in the next two months: the Hong Kong Open on 21–24 August 2025, the Tour’s Japan leg on 26–31 August 2025, an the MB Vietnam Open on 4–7 September 2025.
Then again, Yeo Jih-Shian is living his dream. He’s probably looking forward to the challenges that come with it.
