Pickleball now attracts many Vietnamese people to play. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam has taken the lead in Asia in terms of pickleball development, according to Việt Nam’s Sports Administration Director Đặng Hà Việt and Asian Pickleball Federation (APF) President Hogan Lai.

The pair held a meeting in Hà Nội on September 4 to discuss the development of the sport in the country.

Since its founding in 2020, the APF has expanded to 21 member countries with 50,000 players across the region. The organisation runs key events like the Asian Pickleball Championship and the Asian Open Pickleball Championship. It has trained and granted certificates to 600 referees.

APF Secretary General Jimmy Tan highlighted the success of initiatives like the Asian youth talent and university pickleball development programmes. The university pickleball development initiative has been expanded from three universities in 2022 to 10 universities in nine countries in 2024. The figure is expected to increase to 30 and 60 universities in 12 and 18 nations in 2025 and 2026, respectively.

Tan said that the sport also aims to promote health for middle-aged and elderly people, with the first tournament for these groups scheduled to take place in Taiwan (China) in 2025. Around 800 athletes aged 50 and above will compete in five days.

The APF is committed to helping Việt Nam develop the sport through training programmes and workshops, he added.

Lê Thanh Hà, Deputy Head of High-Performance Sports Division 2, emphasised the importance of the APF’s support in training referees, as Việt Nam prepares to host its first national pickleball championship in October 2024. The country also hopes to host regional tournaments in 2025 to gauge its progress.

The APF aims to push for pickleball’s inclusion in the Summer Olympics and is fully backing Việt Nam’s efforts to develop the sport to its full potential. VNS