Kota Kinabalu: ‘Pickleball the game we choose, the lifestyle we need’ is the catchphrase of this game in the hope that many members of the public will want to get to know and take part in this new sport in town.
Started only three years in Sabah, pickleball is considered new but a great sport for people who are looking for a healthy and active lifestyle.
Sabah Pickleball Association (Sapa) and Kota Kinabalu Pickleball Association (KKPA) jointly held their first ever competition at Likas Sports Complex last week on Dec 10.
The sport which resembles tennis and table tennis (ping pong) was held in three categories. They were men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles which saw over 50 participants.
There was no age category giving a mixture of age 12 to 72 battling out for prizes in cash and trophy for the winners.
Winners for the men’s doubles were Agustine Ho and Azmani Akbar; Dzulkifly Awang and Daron Mohd Shafiz; Helly Leong Kim Seng and Roger Lim.
For women’s doubles the prizes went to Wynnie Tan and Karen Lee; Julita Akabal and Nurfarhana Suraman; Josephine Robert and Tatiana Guansing.
Mixed doubles category winners were Tatiana Guansing and Desmond Guansing; Julita Akbal and Dzulkifly Awang; and Michelle Liew and Alan Lind.
Sapa President Julita Akabal said the competition was held with the target of breaking the ice and gaining experience.
“Over 50 people participated and this is a good start for this new sport. It is considered new because not many people here know about the game.
“Nevertheless both in playing the game and event organising, we managed to produce some fierce competition and battles,” she added.
According to Julita, her association will continue to promote the sport to the public by way of organising more tournaments.
She said both Sapa and KKPA are planning more activities with intention to promote pickleball to schools and local universities.
“Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in Sabah for the past three years. It is a combination of tennis and ping-pong with a bit of squash skills,” she said adding that pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two players or four (doubles) hit a hollow ball with paddles.
Players play against each other over net and until one side is unable to return the ball which will determine the winner. It’s just like tennis but the difference being pickleball is played on a smaller court.
“Those who are interested in this game are welcome to join our group at Likas Sports Complex every Sunday. There will be coaching and introduction to beginners starting at 2-4pm.
“Pickleball is a sport with short learning curves. Players can easily start and play the sport after 1-2 hours of lessons. It’s doesn’t require strenuous jumping, hard smashing and hectic running,” she said.
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