Skechers Malaysia Tournament Gets Underway After a Bout of Social Media Chatter

For their third edition in 2025, Skechers have brought their international pickleball tournament to Malaysia. With the prize pool worth a whopping RM80,000, this tournament certainly appealed to many. Over 900 players joined the tournament, including picklers from Malaysia and 13 other countries.  

“We’re proud to share that this tournament has seen tremendous response, with a total of 928 entries and 618 players representing 13 countries, a true testament to how far the sport has come and the passion driving its growth,” said Skechers CEO Stephanie Chang in her opening ceremony speech.

Pickleball News Asia (PNA) then asked Chang shortly after her speech what Skechers aim to achieve with these series of tournaments.

In response, Chang said: ‘To elevate the game… To allow Malaysians of all ages and all levels of pickleballers to have an opportunity to participate in international tournaments… It’s the fastest growing sport in Malaysia’ 

In addition to accommodating the players, Skechers also made sure to accommodate spectators, media groups, food trucks, and merchandise booths in an event that took place on hot and humid days under Malaysian sunshine.

With all that going on, the atmosphere still felt spacious and electric. At no point did it feel cramped even with the significant number of people present. Additionally, the contagious energy of the crowd was fascinating. Credit here not only goes to Skechers but also to their well-chosen partner, PickleDepot, for providing the courts and open atmosphere. 

With pickleball courts growing rapidly like bamboo and sprouting up all over the country, PickleDepot has no doubt bloomed brightest in Skechers’ spotlight. PickleDepot provides 12 netted or gated pickleball courts under a roof the size of a large aircraft hangar. The compound has plenty of space to sit courtside, walk upstairs for further viewing spots, walk to the back where the food trucks and merchandise were set up, and even more spots just to get fresh air.

The facility is based in Sentul Depot where on a sunny day, beating the heat can be a serious challenge. Yet the spacious architecture of the facility, as well as the use of solid pillars, allows for natural ventilation, open scenery, and a large roof acting as a shield from the sun. PickleDepot does not provide shelter in spite of the tropics but rather in symbiosis with it—which certainly creates an invigorating environment for players and spectators alike. 

While the opening day of the tournament went very well, the event had to deal with a social media storm in the succeeding days. Malaysia, as is known to the world, is a Muslim country, and one competitor had raised a question with the organisers on whether or not time had been allocated during the Friday session to allow players to go for Friday prayers. 

Evidently, no time was allocated for this purpose, which was disappointing enough in of itself. But the bigger, more pressing issue was the lack of empathy from the organisers in terms of responding to the matter. Said player apparently reached out via text and respectfully asked: “May I ask for tomorrow [sic] single matches intermediate, for those who need to go [on] Friday prayers, are we expected to miss them?”

It was a sensitive but valid question. Unfortunately, the organiser in charge failed to answer in a proper, polite way as they told the player: “Sorry… you will have to decide what you want to do. I can’t decide for you.”

Unsurprisingly, the player who asked the question was shocked with the response, so much so that they posted the exchange on social media. The organisers responded as well, doubling down on the initial response and not apologising, again with responses that many considered harsh

When asked about the unfortunate incident, Chang deferred to the Skechers PR team, who simply regurgitated what is essentially company-speak:

“It’s just that in the future… Skechers are aware that this is happening. Last night itself actually, they’ve already taken precautions about it, and they’ve already announced that they will [take precautions] in the future. [They will] make sure that this is all included when it comes to any planning in the future” 
 – Skechers’ response to the Friday prayer issue

It’s good that Skechers acknowledged the issue with words. But it remains to be seen if they and their partners have truly learned from this controversy and would be capable of doing better next time—both at preventing similar snafus and in communicating with players and other stakeholders.  

Issues aside, the event went off in good spirits, and Skechers definitely achieved what they set out to do—delivering an event that unquestionably celebrated the joy of pickleball