Singaporean Shirly Tan hadn’t set foot abroad in years. Not since her husband, Titus Toh, was diagnosed with lung fibrosis and she became his full-time carer, quietly shelving the overseas trips and, with them, any hope of playing pickleball at a proper tournament.
Then a friend asked her a simple question, and everything changed.
Brenda Lwa suggested they enter the women’s doubles at the Leapmotor Singapore Open, part of the PPA Tour Asia 500. Tan, 62, said yes almost instinctively—even as her husband, the man who’d introduced her to the sport in the first place, wondered aloud whether the pair were really up to it. Her answer was blunt enough: they’d never know unless they tried. Late July found her finally ticking off a long-held bucket-list item, competing in the 50-plus amateur category in front of a home crowd.
It didn’t end in silverware. Lwa, 66, carried a leg injury into the event, and the pair finished fourth, losing the third-place play-off to Peggy Tan and Foo Pei. It hardly mattered. For two friends who’d met through ActiveSG’s seniors programme in Jurong West and spent years playing casually before dinner, simply lining up at a major tournament felt like enough of a win.
They’re far from alone. Retired banker Liew Kim Fui, 70, gave up tennis when his knees failed him, only to rediscover competitive sport through pickleball’s smaller court and gentler learning curve. His advice to any senior on the fence is refreshingly simple: just try it.
That message is spreading fast. Singapore now counts more than 5,000 active players, with 2025’s Pesta Sukan tournament alone drawing over 2,000 entrants, according to the Singapore Pickleball Association. OCBC has thrown its weight behind the trend too, partnering with Care Corner Seniors Services on a two-year programme offering free coaching to 100 isolated or frail seniors, 50 a year, across ten-week sessions.
Among this year’s intake is 74-year-old Ho Soo Hock, whose curiosity was sparked by watching sessions at a Toa Payoh community centre after years of playing table tennis only sporadically. Training began in early July and builds towards a Care Corner sports day in November, with top performers earning a shot at the novice category of the inaugural OCBC-Great Eastern Pickleball Open in October—a category that filled up almost as soon as registration opened.
Not everyone in the programme is chasing a trophy. Tong Shui Chong, an 83-year-old retiree training in Marsiling, insists the appeal lies elsewhere entirely: staying active, not winning. Still, offered a shot at the tournament, the former polytechnic lecturer laughed and said he’d take it in a heartbeat, standard permitting.
Between Tan’s bucket-list moment and Tong’s good-humoured shrug, one thing is clear—Singapore’s seniors aren’t just filling time on these courts. They’re finding a reason to keep showing up.
