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Paul McNamara

One of the prime architects of pickleball’s global boom has anticipated a future where Asian players overthrow their American rivals at the sport’s summit.
Steve Kuhn, who founded Major League Pickleball (MLP) in his native United States in 2021, has teamed up with Bay Pickle to open Hong Kong’s first indoor pickleball club in Causeway Bay.
There are plans for pickleball venues in Kowloon, Tseung Kwan O and Ma On Shan before the end of 2024, as Hong Kong and Asia begin playing catch-up in a sport ruled by the USA.
Kuhn pointed out that table tennis was an English creation, but Olympic medals in the sport have become an almost exclusive preserve of Asian talent.
The billionaire has backed pickleball to gain Olympic status and said the sport could even
determine which nations top future Games medal tables.

“Someday, I think Asian players will be the best in the world,” Kuhn told the Post. “Eight years ago, I told some friends that one day in the US more people would play pickleball than tennis.
“They laughed at me, because only a couple of hundred thousand were playing then. Now, there are around 40 million people playing.
“An Apple study [in 2023] showed watches tracking more people playing pickleball than tennis. The same is going to happen in Asia, it will take a while, but pickleball will be bigger in Asia than in the USA.
“The Olympics would be a big deal. Look at the medal count this summer [China and USA tied on 40 golds] … if pickleball is included it will potentially create five more medal opportunities, which could make the difference. People are going to care about the sport.”
As the brainchild of MLP, which has attracted a glittering cast of team owners, including NFL star Patrick Mahomes, Mesut Ozil, the former Arsenal and Germany footballer, actress Eva Longoria and a host of tennis glitterati such as Nick Kyrgios, Chris Evert and Naomi Osaka, Kuhn is acutely aware of the imperative of bringing visibility to the sport’s elite end. It has gained additional traction from celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Phelps playing the game.
“In almost every country in the world, the most played sport is generally either the most watched or among the top three,” he said. “Audience numbers are increasing, but … people have grown up with other sports, it will take time for that to happen with pickleball.
“For the kids playing pickleball today, it will be natural for them to watch for the rest of their lives, so numbers are going to grow.”
Bay Pickle, which was co-founded by Hongkongers Albert Fung and Ken Deng, claimed to be ushering in a “transformative experience in Hong Kong’s sports scene”.
The facility boasted an international standard court and supplied recreational and elite playing opportunities.
“This is a very affordable and accessible sport,” Kuhn said. “You’re going to have Cinderella stories, players from non-wealthy backgrounds who are going to be great, and those stories will drive the sport over time.
“[Vietnamese men’s singles world No 7] Quang Duong got in the world’s top 10 and now there’s a pickleball wave in Vietnam.
“When more of these stories emerge, the whole continent is going to catch fire.”

Kuhn began playing the sport in 2015 and said one of the benefits of the pickleball was the social element as well as the fact it is easy to pick up.
“This is a sport where people who play together become friends,” he added. “Also, in other sports, like golf, you have to practice for years before it’s really fun.
“In pickleball, you immediately have fun.”
Kuhn said the “economics of pickleball make sense” for investors.
“You can have three pickleball courts on one tennis court, and you almost always play doubles, so it’s six times as dense,” Kuhn said. “Almost every tennis club in the US is at least partially converting to pickleball, because you can generate six times the revenue.”
Kuhn added: “I’ll make one more crazy prediction: I think, in the next decade, pickleball will be one of the top five played sports in the world.
“There is football and cricket, then pickleball can compete with anything below those.”


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Bay Pickle co-founders Albert Fung (left) and Ken Deng (right) flank Steve Kuhn. Photo: Above the Line

Ken Deng’s Bay Pickle wants to create a ‘transformative experience in Hong Kong’s sports scene’. Photo: Above the Line

The new facility is designed for recreational and elite pickleball players. Photo: Above the Line

Pickleball becomes smash hit in Singapore and beyond thanks in part to Taylor Swift

A screenshot of American pop superstar Taylor Swift carrying a pickleball paddle. Photo: YouTube

Singaporean Jeremy Soh and his fiancée Jeovanne Poernomo at Performance Pickleball, a pickleball facility they set up in Singapore’s northeast region of Punggol. Photo: Handout

Pickleball Lab, a shop selling pickleball equipment in Singapore. Photo: Handout 

Priyanna Subramaniam, 28, one of the co-founders of Pickleball Lab, a shop in Singapore selling pickleball equipment, and her friends playing pickleball. Photo: Handout

Richie Ong, the 37-year-old co-founder of That Pickleball Shop in Singapore. Photo: Handout

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Hong Kong qualifier Coleman Wong almost won the second-round match in straight sets before fading away in the decider. Photo: Edmond So

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Six men and four women are representing Hong Kong at the inaugural Asia Pacific Padel Cup in Bali, Indonesia. Photo: HKCPA

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Men’s team captain Aziz Khan (left) and Chow Chun-ho in action. Photo: HKCPA

Sport

Founder of major USA pickleball league involved in new Hong Kong venture, international standard indoor court opens in Causeway Bay


Founder of major USA pickleball league involved in new Hong Kong venture, international standard indoor court opens in Causeway Bay.


Olympics