Indonesia makes pickleball a medal sport at PON 2028

Indonesia has turned pickleball from a showcase sport into a medal chase, becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to place it on the programme of a national multi-sport event. The decision on May 12 guaranteed pickleball medals at PON XXII in 2028, when East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara will co-host the National Sports Week.

That breakthrough did not come out of nowhere. Pickleball first appeared at PON XXI Aceh-Sumut 2024 as an exhibition sport, part of a broader trial that also included padel, teqball and floorball. PON XXI ran from September 8 to 20, 2024 in Aceh and North Sumatra, giving the sport its first national-stage visibility before the leap into medal status.

The upgrade matters because it changes how the sport will be built across Indonesia. Once a discipline carries medal weight, all 38 provinces are expected to field competitive athletes, which pushes local governments to find courts, coaches and talent much faster. Jakarta, West Java and North Sumatra already have stronger bases to build high-performance programs, while newer regions will have to move quickly on basic infrastructure and athlete identification.

That urgency is especially clear in the host provinces. Dito Ariotedjo said in 2025 that PON 2028 in NTB and NTT would focus on sustainability and that existing venues must be used, not abandoned. Marciano Norman has also said the 22nd PON will prioritize Olympic sports and introduce standard thresholds for competing athletes. For pickleball, that means legitimacy inside Indonesia’s sports system and a stronger case for funding, court construction and provincial training plans.

The federation’s push has accelerated in step with that policy shift. PB IPF held its 2025 Rakernas at Universitas Negeri Jakarta on April 29 and 30 with 22 provincial administrators present, a sign of how quickly the sport’s structure is spreading. The DKI Jakarta branch of the Indonesia Pickleball Federation became a KONI member on February 16, 2026, and Muhammad Nazaruddin was elected to lead PB IPF for 2026 to 2031 at a Munas at ARTOTEL Gelora Senayan.

The long-term ambition now reaches beyond PON. PB IPF has framed its strategy around PON, the SEA Games and the 2028 Olympics, while local planning in NTB has already pointed to the need for at least ten covered pickleball courts to meet standards. Komarudin, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, Suwarno and Raden Isnanta have all been part of the broader host-province conversation. The message from Indonesia is unmistakable: pickleball is no longer just being tested, it is being built into the country’s sporting future.