Sibu performed host to one thing Sarawak had by no means fairly seen earlier than: an inter-division pickleball championship constructed completely round gamers beneath 18. When the mud settled on Sunday, it was Kuching who claimed the inaugural crown, with Miri ending an in depth second and Sibu’s two entries taking third and fourth.
Six groups, drawn from 5 divisions—Sibu, Kuching, Miri, Bintulu and Sarikei—made up the sector, with Sibu doubling up and fielding a second facet alongside the host division. For a sport nonetheless discovering its footing amongst Sarawak’s youth, that’s a good turnout for a primary go at it.
Bintulu will get the honour of internet hosting subsequent 12 months’s version, a call confirmed on the closing ceremony by Sibu Pickleball Affiliation president and Bukit Assek assemblyman Joseph Chieng. He didn’t maintain again on the importance of the event both, calling it a historic and significant milestone for junior pickleball within the state, and thanking each crew and participant for serving to make it one.
Extra Than Only a Weekend Event
There’s a much bigger plan behind all of this, and Chieng was pretty upfront about it. The event isn’t meant to be a one-off—it’s designed to assist organisers spot promising younger gamers early, giving them the aggressive publicity wanted to ultimately symbolize Sarawak on the Malaysian Faculties Sports activities Council and, additional down the road, on the Malaysia Video games, or Sukma.
Chieng additionally used the platform to push for one thing greater nonetheless: he’s hoping the Malaysia Pickleball Affiliation and the Ministry of Schooling can work collectively to get pickleball recognised as an official MSSM sport. The timing helps his case. Pickleball has already been named an illustration sport at Sukma 2026 in Selangor, and Chieng is now eyeing full medal-sport standing by Sukma 2028—a shift that may hand younger gamers a real pathway reasonably than a novelty look on the programme.
He tied all of it again to Sarawak’s personal improvement priorities, pointing to the state’s deal with youth improvement and human capital beneath the Publish Covid-19 Improvement Technique 2030. As he put it, investing in younger individuals via sport doesn’t simply construct athletes—it builds “more healthy, extra assured” future leaders for the state.
Sibu District Schooling officer Lau Ngie Tung was additionally available for the closing ceremony, alongside Chieng, as medals have been handed out to shut what organisers are already treating as the primary chapter of one thing greater.
For now, Kuching will get to name itself Sarawak’s first-ever under-18 pickleball champion. Whether or not that title nonetheless means a lot as soon as Bintulu’s crowd will get concerned subsequent 12 months is precisely the type of query this event was constructed to maintain asking.
