Private sector role vital to pickleball growth

KUCHING: More private-sector initiatives could help drive the growth of pickleball in Sarawak, says State Secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki.

He said the involvement of private companies in organising tournaments could provide more opportunities to develop talent and encourage wider participation in the sport.

“I believe that with tournaments like this and the involvement of the private sector, this will help further develop pickleball,” he said when met at the Pekat Pickleball Tournament 2026 here today (Oct 4).

Mohamad Abu Bakar also congratulated the organisers for successfully staging the tournament, which he said had attracted considerable interest from pickleball enthusiasts.

He noted that pickleball was not limited to younger players, with people of different age groups, including women, taking part.

He said the tournament also brought together participants from various communities, making the sport a platform for fostering greater unity.

“We can see that the participants competing today are from different communities, and this is one way of bringing the people together,” he said.

The inaugural Pekat Pickleball Tournament 2026, held at Pikabol Malaysia, Jalan Pending, here, attracted about 150 participants from 28 agencies.

Organised by Pekat Group Berhad together with its subsidiaries and associate companies, the tournament featured 28 teams comprising six to eight players each.

The teams competed in VIP and team events, with the latter comprising men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles categories.

Mohamad Abu Bakar said more tournaments of a similar nature should be organised by the private sector to further promote pickleball in Sarawak.

He said such initiatives could complement efforts to expand the sport while providing more opportunities for people to participate and develop their skills.

The tournament also served as an avenue for Pekat to strengthen its engagement with stakeholders and local communities in Sarawak, where the group has established a presence through Pekat Energy Sarawak Sdn Bhd (PES).

PES is involved in solar photovoltaic solutions, earthing and lightning protection, power distribution, as well as operations and maintenance.

In Sarawak, Pekat has also been involved in the Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (SARES), leveraging its solar energy and engineering expertise to support rural electrification initiatives across the state.

PES continues to support the systems through maintenance works covering five SARES clusters.