AmBank Malaysia Pickleball Championship expands, prize purse rises to RM66,000

Bigger in Malaysian pickleball now means more than a larger draw sheet. The second AmBank Malaysia Pickleball Championship is set for June 19-21, 2026 at PLAYA Racquet Club @ PARC Subang in Subang Jaya, Selangor, and the numbers point to a tournament trying to graduate from fast-growing showcase to a firmer part of the sport’s calendar.

Organisers Score Sports Management, known as SCORE, expect more than 600 competitors from 10 countries, up from 500 players in the inaugural edition. The prize purse has also climbed to RM66,000 from RM50,000 last year. That kind of step-up matters. In pickleball, where participation growth can outrun event infrastructure, a bigger purse is not just decoration. It is a sign that sponsors see enough traction to invest, venues see enough demand to host, and players see enough reward to travel.

The registration window runs from March 17 to May 15, 2026, and the structure is wider than a standard weekend run-and-gun event. The championship will feature Novice, Intermediate and Open categories across men’s, women’s and mixed doubles, with the format designed to keep more players in play across three full days. On June 19, group round robin play, Top 16 matches and quarter-finals are scheduled for the Novice and Intermediate divisions. June 20 is reserved for Intermediate 35+ and Open divisions. June 21 will bring the semifinals, third-place playoffs and finals.

That format says a lot about where Malaysia’s pickleball economy is headed. Early rounds will use rally scoring to 15 points, a system that keeps matches moving and courts turning over efficiently. Later rounds will shift to best-of-three games, which puts a premium on endurance, shot-making and depth rather than just hot starts. It is the kind of setup that separates a casual meet from an event built to crown a serious benchmark.

AmBank’s push is also part of the story. The bank is offering a RM30 discount for the first 150 cardholders through a promo code, a small but telling incentive that widens the entry point while tying the event to sponsor-driven growth. That matters for grassroots players trying to get in, and it matters for the host venue and commercial partners looking for a repeatable annual property, not a one-off buzz event.

If the first edition proved interest, this one is trying to prove scale. More countries, more entrants, a bigger purse and a more elaborate format all point in the same direction: Malaysia’s top pickleball championship is starting to look less like a novelty and more like the country’s competitive measuring stick.