Liu Ying Trades Badminton Court for Pickleball Net to Fire Up Kidsnergy’s Young Players
Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Goh Liu Ying spent a day with a paddle in her hand rather than a racket, and a room full of children got the benefit. The former national mixed doubles badminton specialist led a pickleball coaching session at the Kidsnergy x iMedia Pickleball Day, part of the build-up to the Kidsnergy Malaysia International Games 2026.
The format was deliberately broader than a standard clinic. Participants worked through technical pickleball training, a dynamic warm-up, and a sports recovery session, then tested themselves in the Kidsnergy Challenge Match. They also got behind the camera for content creation activities with iMedia, and each had a chance to take part in a sharing session titled “My Pickleball Story.” The idea, according to Liu Ying, was to give the children a platform to learn, play, and show what they can do, building confidence, skills, and sportsmanship before the real competition begins.
For a sport still new to many Malaysian school-age players, that mix of coaching and storytelling is a smart way in. It treats pickleball less as a drill and more as something kids can own.
What Is the Kidsnergy Malaysia International Games?
To understand why Liu Ying is at the centre of all this, it helps to know what Kidsnergy actually is. The brand is the rebranded successor to Kidslympic, the youth sports movement she co-founded, and it sets out to empower children through sport, fitness, education, leadership, culture, and community engagement. Its programmes climb like a ladder: a school tour for outreach, a games qualifier, a run series, beach games, the Kidsnergy Malaysia Games at national level, and the Kidsnergy International Games at the top, built around wider participation and cultural exchange.
The 2026 International Games sit near the summit of that ladder. Held in conjunction with National Sports Day, the edition features badminton, pickleball, volleyball, and Kidsrix, an athletics-style challenge of running, jumping, and throwing for younger age groups. Badminton and volleyball take centre stage this weekend at Arena Sukan Kuala Lumpur, while the pickleball competition follows from 16 to 18 October.
Liu Ying framed the whole concept around keeping children’s sporting lives in one place. “Kidsnergy Malaysia Games brings together sports, skills development, friendship, and experiences within a single Kidsnergy community platform, offering multiple sports under one community,” she said.
Weather Is the One Wild Card
Not everything is entirely in the organisers’ hands. Poor air quality has forced some National Sports Day plans to be reviewed, with organisers monitoring the Air Pollutant Index and putting public safety first, particularly where outdoor participation by children is concerned. Pickleball’s session at least sits comfortably inside the programme’s skills-first approach, whatever the haze does to the outdoor events.
Which is, in the end, rather the point. Between Liu Ying’s coaching, the structured challenge match, and the encouragement to share personal stories, the pickleball day was designed to leave the children with more than a few new shots. It sent them away with a bit more belief, and with two weeks to go before they play for real.
