Kuching to Host the Largest Pickleball Tournament in Malaysia and Borneo this October

KUCHING, Malaysia, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Sarawak is about to make pickleball history with the #BorneoPickleball International Tournament, Malaysia and Borneo’s largest pickleball competition with a prize pool of RM20,000. The Tournament will be held in Kuching from October 9 to 12 with an expected participation of approximately 500 players and 2,000 visitors from the region.

Kuching Pickleball Association is the main Tournament organiser, while BESarawak acts as the Exclusive Strategic Advisor and provides in-kind support to the Association in creating a sustainable and gold-standard international event.

At the Association level, the International Tournament is endorsed by the Malaysia Pickleball Association and Sarawak Pickleball Association. At the Government level, it is endorsed by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak, and the Ministry of Tourism,  Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak.

Pickleball is inclusive across all ages and abilities, fostering interaction among diverse industries and communities. The Tournament is open to corporate organisations, public sectors, associations and clubs, and other communities and individuals interested in joining.

At today’s press conference, The Honourable Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak and Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts Sarawak stated that “The International Tournament is relevant for Sarawak to strengthen its destination profile in sports and sports tourism. As the host of SUKMA 2024, Sarawak is already in the spotlight; the International Pickleball Tournament is another strategic opportunity to show Sarawak’s ability to host global sporting events and boost our image as a sports tourism destination.”

“With more sports associations developing new events in Sarawak, we attract new investments in sports facilities and infrastructure. Growing and sustaining our sporting communities requires education, engagement, collaboration and inclusion, as demonstrated in this pickleball tournament.”

As the Exclusive Strategic Advisor, BESarawak’s contribution is to guide the Kuching Pickleball Association in developing a sporting event that can be sustained. According to Dato Sri Abang Haji Abdul Karim bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg, Chairman of BESarawak.“This Tournament can be a recurring event and transformed into a potential legacy for the pickleball community and Sarawak’s sports tourism. The Tournament’s outreach goes beyond the competition itself as the Kuching Pickleball Association partners with us to include the ‘Books Build Legacy’ corporate social responsibility programme with a target of 2,000 book donations in aid of Sarawak’s rural schools.”

“Community development is always a priority for us in the industry and the Tournament is a product of collaboration between business events players uniting for change. This is our contribution to developing Associations and major events.”

Ruslan Bujang, President of the Kuching Pickleball Association mentioned “Pickleball is a healthy way of managing stress, living an active lifestyle, and building new friendships and connections. The Tournament is a great opportunity for cross-cultural exchange between Malaysian and International communities; bridging the worlds of sports and education through this tournament, where players compete while making meaningful contributions to local communities.”

The tournament will feature three categories:

A) Open (Team) category

a) 5 subcategories: Mixed Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Men’s Doubles, Veteran Doubles, Men’s Singles
b) Maximum 48 teams
c) Registration fee of RM1,200 per team
d) Prizes between RM1,250 (including medal) to RM10,000 (including trophy and medal)

B) Women’s Single category

a) Maximum 24 players
b) Registration fee of RM100 per player
c) Prizes between RM125 to RM1,000 (all inclusive of medals)

C) Novice category

a) Maximum 24 pairs
b) Registration fee of RM50 per pair
c) Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals are up for grabs

The #BorneoPickleball International Tournament is in partnership with:

1. Sarawak Tourism Board (Promotion Partner)
2. Malaysia Airlines (Airline Partner)
3. Grand Margherita Hotel and Riverside Majestic Hotel (Hotel Partners)
4. CPH Travel (Travel Agency Partner)

Teams and individuals wishing to join must register for a Pickleball Global ID at https://pickleball.global/. ID registration is free and accumulated points at the #BorneoPickleball International Tournament can be utilised for global tournaments.

Registration for the Tournament closes on 31 August 2024. For regular Tournament updates, visit BESarawak’s Facebook page (@BESarawak). For full details on the Tournament including Registration QR codes, refer to the Attachments enclosed in the folder here.

ABOUT BUSINESS EVENTS SARAWAK 
BESarawak was established in 2006 by the Sarawak Government as a non-profit destination marketing organisation to promote Sarawak for national and international business events. Support and services include, but are not limited to, bidding services, developing business events of interest, delegate marketing, financial support and developing incentive itineraries. BESarawak is a member of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Union of International Associations (UIA), and Union des Foires Internationales (UFI) – The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. Visit www.businesseventssarawak.com for more information.

Business events refer to meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. BESarawak is also known as ‘Biro Konvensyen Sarawak’ (Bahasa Malaysia) or 砂拉越会议局 (Mandarin).

ABOUT BUSINESS EVENTS’ LEGACY IMPACT
Legacy impact refers to the long-term, positive benefits that business events bring to sectors, communities, trade and investment, the environment, and governance. Sarawak is the first in Malaysia and one of the few in the world to focus on legacy impact as a sustainable method of measuring the value of business events. The sector is listed as one of six in the Sarawak Government’s Post COVID-19 Development Strategy to achieve economic prosperity, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability by 2030.

Source : Kuching to Host the Largest Pickleball Tournament in Malaysia and Borneo this October

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