Pickleball gains traction

Toby’s Sports sees a bright future for the SM Pickleball Super Series after a successful staging Sunday at SM North EDSA.

Chief executive officer Toby Claudio told DAILY TRIBUNE said they have plans for a bigger competition after a huge turnout of participants in their three legs.

The first was held at SM Megamall from 1 to 6 April while the second was at the Mall of Asia from 19 to 25 May.

“My estimate is that pickleball will become the biggest participation sport in the Philippines. It’s really booming worldwide, especially in other Asian countries,” Claudio said.

“It’s no surprise because pickleball is really, really a fun sport to play and a sport for everyone. So you can see now that so many people are having fun playing and watching.

“So it’s really a great sport that I think even more Filipinos will discover in the next few months and we hope that our tournament can help grow the sport as we bring it around.”

A total of 30 teams in the novice, intermediate, and advance division competed in the third leg.

Pickleball has been making waves in the Philippines as a sport that can be picked up by anyone.

In fact, athletes such as Bien and Bambi Zoleta are also competing in various international tournaments.