Singapore's EPIC World Championship Sets Stage for Global Amateur Pickleball Festival

One Championship co-founder Victor Cui has a new arena. The EPIC World Championship, which Cui co-founded, will run April 30 to May 3, 2026 at Singapore's Kallang Tennis Hub, with the Singapore Tourism Board committing to a three-year partnership that marks the first time the agency has formally endorsed an international pickleball event. The result is the inaugural edition of what organisers are positioning as the permanent global home for competitive amateur pickleball.

The prize purse starts at a guaranteed USD $50,000 and grows with every confirmed registration. Cui has been direct about the intent: "The amount will escalate with every new player registration." More than 1,000 qualified amateurs from around the world are expected to compete across the four days.

The eligibility ceiling is specific. Players must hold a DUPR rating of 4.99 or lower in both singles and doubles as of January 31, 2026, locking the field to the 3.0-to-5.0 amateur tier. Entry comes through three defined routes: a direct DUPR invitation for the platform's top-ranked eligible amateurs, a Golden Ticket earned by winning a designated regional qualifier, or a purchased wildcard entry at USD $888. Singapore receives 88 reserved wildcard slots, contingent on players holding an active DUPR rating and registering as EPIC ambassadors.

The Golden Ticket system is where EPIC's structural ambition for Asia turns practical. The Philippine Pickleball Federation has already moved, designating its championship as a Golden Ticket qualifier. Winners in select divisions earn automatic entry into EPIC's Team Competition in Singapore. That kind of federation-to-world-championship pipeline has been largely absent from Southeast Asia's amateur circuit, where domestic tournament wins typically carry no formal international continuation.

Cui positioned the event explicitly outside the professional tier. "Pickleball is growing really fast but I don't want this event to be in the professional space," he said. "This is about mass participation, like a marathon or Hyrox or Spartan." The format reflects that framing: every entry carries a guaranteed minimum match count, multi-event registration is available across categories, and festival programming including food, music, and player gift packages runs alongside the competitive draw.

The Kallang Tennis Hub sits within the Singapore Sports Hub complex adjacent to the National Stadium, giving EPIC access to infrastructure already scaled for international multi-sport gatherings. The Singapore Sports Hub serves as the official venue partner, and the Singapore Tourism Board's three-year commitment signals that officials see the model as viable beyond a single edition.

For clubs and coaches across Southeast Asia, the immediate operational question is calendar alignment. Qualifying via Golden Ticket requires winning a designated domestic event within EPIC's approval window, then securing travel and logistics to Singapore before April 30. The Philippines federation has already worked out that timing. Other national bodies in the region now face a concrete decision on whether to apply for qualifier status, with the tournament less than a month away.