Sarawak in Malaysia Starts Building Its Junior Pickleball Pipeline, One Tournament at a Time
Sarawak in Malaysia isn’t waiting for its young pickleball talent to simply emerge on its own. The state has launched the inaugural Sarawak Closed Junior Pickleball Tournament, a deliberate step towards giving young Sarawakians more chances to compete, sharpen their game, and eventually work their way up to higher levels of the sport.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian, officiating the event at Pickabol Malaysia in Kuching, made clear this wasn’t meant to be a one-off gesture. The tournament, put together by OCI-TerraSus in partnership with the Kuching Pickleball Association and fully funded by OCI-TerraSus, is intended to return annually rather than fade after a single edition. “Developing young athletes takes time,” Dr Sim said. “Talent needs to be nurtured through regular opportunities to train, compete, gain experience and challenge themselves.”
Building Towards Something Bigger
The tournament isn’t an end in itself, either. Dr Sim framed it as preparation for a considerably bigger stage—the Under-18 Sarawak Inter-Division Pickleball Tournament, set to take place in Bintulu in July 2027. Getting young players proper competitive reps now is, in effect, the groundwork for that later event.
There’s already a marker to measure progress against, too. Kuching Division took the title at the inaugural Under-18 Junior Competition, giving organisers a genuine benchmark and, as Dr Sim put it, an encouraging foundation to build the wider programme around.
A Wider Net Than Just Kuching
What stood out most about this first edition wasn’t just that it happened, but who actually turned up for it. Juniors came from Kuching, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri—a spread that reaches well beyond the state capital and into towns that don’t always get first crack at new sporting infrastructure. “For a first edition, this is a very positive start,” Dr Sim said. “It shows that interest in pickleball among our young people is growing beyond Kuching and reaching different parts of Sarawak.”
Dr Sim also used the occasion to remind the young competitors that sport isn’t only about the scoreline, encouraging them to make the most of the opportunity regardless of where they finished in the standings.
For a state chasing genuine depth in a sport still finding its footing regionally, that geographic spread might end up mattering just as much as whoever wins the next division title.
