The inaugural Kuching City Cup Pickleball Competition marked a significant milestone in Sarawak by attracting the highest youth participation to date, with 62 players aged seven to 18 competing. Bandar Kuching MP Dr. Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen praised the young athletes for their skill and sportsmanship, highlighting the notable achievement of players from rural Betong who secured second place in the under-18 category despite limited facilities. The event, organized by the Rotary Club of Kuching Central and supported by a RM50,000 allocation from Dr. Yii, aimed to promote pickleball at the grassroots level and foster a healthy, active lifestyle among the community.
Dr. Yii emphasized the importance of developing pickleball in Sarawak to establish the state as a powerhouse in the sport nationally, encouraging school-level participation to nurture future talent. He also linked the promotion of sports like pickleball to addressing the rise of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, underscoring the event’s dual role in encouraging healthy living and cultivating young athletes for the future.
