By Jaythaleela K
MIRI, July 4: The Sarawak Pickleball Association (SPA) with the support of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak and the Sarawak Sports Corporation will be conducting pickleball workshops in various cities and towns.
The most recent workshops were held in Kuching city on June 25 and 26.
About 50 participants turned up for the workshop at Dewan Badminton Persatuan Badminton Bumiputra Sarawak, Chin Fu Methodist Badminton Hall and Stampark Badminton Hall.
The workshops were also attended by 20 participants from the Sarawak Deaf Sports Association members.
In Sarawak, pickleball is currently played in Miri, Sibu and Kuching.
In Malaysia, the Malaysian Pickleball Association (MPA) is the national governing body and is based in Miri.
In Asia, the Asia Federation of Pickleball has been formed to establish, jointly govern and promote the sport of Pickleball for all Asian countries.
Pickleball is a sport which combines many elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. It can be played both indoor on a doubles badminton court or outdoor.
A player needs a ball and a paddle to start playing the sport. It can be played doubles or singles. Pickleball can be enjoyed by all ages and skill levels.
Pickleball was invented in 1965 in the USA where it is one of the fastest growing sports, and has now spread across the world.
Players can easily learn to play the sport after one to two hours of lessons. It is a sport that does not require strenuous jumping, hard smashing or hectic running. At the same time, it is also a sport for competitive players who would like to demonstrate their technical and tactical skills and test them against opponents.
SPA has already made a plan to hold several major tournaments including the Miri Open in October 2022 and Sarawak Inter-Division by first half of 2023.
Interested persons may call or send a WhatsApp message to Delima Ibrahim (012-8830407) for further information. — DayakDaily
