Sarawak started Malaysia’s pickleball revolution. Now it wants to move it to levels above and beyond what’s possibe.
Bandar Kuching Member of Parliament Dr Kelvin Yii used an exhibition event at Star Pickleball to make that case, bringing Professional Pickleball Association Kuala Lumpur Open doubles champion Collin Johns to the city to give local players an experience they would not normally get outside the capital.
The message was straightforward: Sarawak may have been first, but it cannot afford to fall behind.
“We were the first state that started pickleball in Malaysia, but now we see the growth of pickleball all around the country,” Yii said. “I see this sport not just as a potential to unite people of different backgrounds, race and age, but it’s a way to promote a healthy lifestyle among Malaysians.”
Yii has made it a point to ensure Kuching does not become a footnote in the story of Malaysian pickleball. The exhibition was deliberate—a chance to put world-class talent in front of local players and, more importantly, local coaches.
“So we always get professional players to Kuala Lumpur,” he said. “So I made it a mission to make sure that people in Sarawak also have the experience with a professional player—with the best in the world, the former world number one and also the current PPA Kuala Lumpur doubles champion Collin Johns.”
Johns, who claimed the Men’s Doubles title at last week’s Panas Kuala Lumpur Open, took the visit in stride—and clearly enjoyed the detour from the tour grind.
“From what I understand, this is the birthplace of pickleball in Malaysia,” Johns said. “I had a pleasure touring the city and it was nice to have that relaxing atmosphere. The best experience in Kuching, I would have to say the food.”
For Yii, though, the visit was never just about an exhibition. It was about infrastructure. Sarawak’s best players, he noted, have largely migrated to Kuala Lumpur in search of greater exposure and competition—a drain that undercuts the very place that gave the sport its start in Malaysia.
“There are many top players in Malaysia who are from Sarawak that are currently based in Kuala Lumpur due to the greater exposure,” he said. “This is why I wanted to bring the best of the best to Kuching so that our local players can be based here itself.”
Grassroots development and coaching quality are at the centre of his vision. Without a pipeline of well-trained coaches operating to international standards, he argued, the talent will keep leaving.
“If we want to grow the ecosystem and to see Malaysia or even Sarawak to excel in this sport, we must train the grassroots and even our younger children to come and contribute to ensure that the quality of our coaches in the city is up to par to international standards,” Yii said. “Who knows—in the future, we can produce champions in the sport, not just on a national level but on an international level.”
Competitions are already being organised across Kuching, the rest of Sarawak, and Kuala Lumpur to keep momentum going. Sarawak lit the spark. Whether it can sustain the flame—and turn it into something that produces champions—is the work that now lies ahead.
