Malaysia to host Asia Pickleball Summit 2.0, shaping sport's future

Malaysia is putting pickleball’s business future on display at Hextar World Empire City, where Asia Pickleball Summit 2.0 will run June 6-7, 2026 at Hextar Exhibition Hall with a pitch aimed well beyond the court. Branded as the "Asia First Pickleball Conference Talk & Exhibition Expo," the summit will carry the theme "Transforming Asia’s Pickleball Energy Into Sustainable Growth," a signal that the conversation in Kuala Lumpur is about facilities, financing, governance and the next wave of competitive pathways.

The summit is designed to pull together the people who can actually shape that next phase: industry leaders, brands, players, coaches, investors, community builders, national sports associations, club owners, league organizers, sponsors, media professionals, startups, venue operators and equipment brands. In other words, Malaysia is trying to become the place where the sport’s separate pieces meet, from grassroots builders looking for courts to investors looking for a category with room to scale.

The timing matters. PPA Tour Asia, which describes itself as the premier professional and amateur pickleball tour in the region, has its 2026 Kuala Lumpur Open set for May 13-17 at 9Pickle in Shah Alam. Registration for that event is already closed with 608 players on the list, a hard number that shows how deep the demand has become in Malaysia before the summit even opens its doors.

That growth has a local backbone. The Malaysia Pickleball Association says it is the national governing body for the sport, and its job includes promoting and regulating pickleball, organizing tournaments, supporting training and certification, and pushing for dedicated facilities. Those are exactly the issues that now sit at the center of the business conversation, because participation spikes only become a real market when they are matched by courts, coaches, standardized competition and reliable event pipelines.

The broader Asian picture is moving in the same direction. DUPR says Malaysia and Vietnam are the fastest-growing pickleball markets in Asia, while events such as the PPA Tour Asia’s Panas Malaysia Cup 2025 helped push the sport deeper into the mainstream in Malaysia. APS 2.0 now sits inside that larger season story, with Malaysia increasingly framed not just as a stop on the calendar but as a recurring hub where tours, operators, sponsors and federations can build the sport’s next phase.