KL Open Pickleball Championship 2025, Pickleball Summit 2025 All Set as Alliance Bank Champions Fast-Rising Sport
Alliance Bank, one of Malaysia’s premier financial institutions, recently announced its intention to champion the world’s fastest-rising sport: pickleball.
As part of this vision, Alliance Bank sealed partnerships with Pickle Social Club (PSC), a pickleball court operator, and Courtsite, a local sports platform. The bank’s support for pickleball and its collaboration with PSC and Courtsite align perfectly with Alliance’s efforts to accelerate the growth of the emerging affluent segment.
The collaborations are already reaping benefits, with Alliance Bank and PSC set to host the first-ever KL Open Pickleball Championship 2025, scheduled to take place from 25 to 27 Apri 2025 at Pickle Social Club, The Courts at KLGCC Resort. This tournament is projected to attract over 600 players, potentially turning it into a landmark competition.
“The rapid growth of pickleball in Malaysia presents an exciting opportunity for us to engage with this vibrant community,” said Gan Pai Li. Group Chief Consumer Banking Officer at Alliance Bank.
“Our partnership with Alliance Bank—the first bank to champion the sport—marks a major milestone,” added Mark Choo, Co-Founder of PSC. “The upcoming KL Open Pickleball Championship 2025, our biggest tournament to date, reflects just how fast the sport is growing.”
“This collaboration came about through shared love and passion for this sport by reaching out to the pickleball community through payments via the VCC. It demonstrates a clear focus on innovation, personalised service, and community engagement in true ESG fashion,” added Courtsite CEO Samuel Siew.
Aside from the KL Open Pickleball Championship 2025, Alliance Bank will also help out Courtsite and the Malaysia Pickleball Association in holding the inaugural Pickleball Summit 2025. This first-of-its-kind event will take place on 25 April 2025 at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club. This summit will gather an estimated 300 pickleball stakeholders—facility owners, investors, suppliers, and more—to talk about the pickleball boom in Malaysia and foster new partnerships to grow the sport even more.
“The growing presence of both Pickle Social Club and Courtsite in the sports and social scene provides an excellent platform for us to connect with diverse communities,” Li pointed out. “We believe that this partnership will enable us to further engage with the growing pickleball community and set the stage for the sport’s next phase of growth in the country.”
Aside from hosting pickleball events, Alliance Bank will also offer picklers with the Visa Virtual Credit Card (VCC) special benefits. Among the exclusive pickleball-related privileges VCC card holders are entitled include:
- Priority court bookings at PSC
- Special cashback incentives
- Sports brand vouchers
The collaboration among Alliance Bank, PSC, and CourtSide was sealed via a Memorandum of Understanding signed by representatives of the three organisations. The signing was done at the Pickle Social Club, The Courts at KLGCC Resort on 27 February.
