The moment of truth has finally arrived as nearly 300 paddlers will compete for pride, glory and mouthwatering prizes in the 1st ArenaPlus-KaTribu Pickleball Tournament on Friday at The Dink Lab Elite inside All Home in Kawit, Cavite.

The blue-ribbon event, dubbed as “Dink-dependence Showdown” for coinciding with the country’s 128th year of anniversary from colonial rule, will feature a powerhouse field and will be graced by ranking government officials, sports executives, sponsors, and even beauty queens in one whole day of fun, action and camaraderie over this fast-emerging sport.

The tournament starts at 8 a.m. with no less than DAILY TRIBUNE president Willie Fernandez joining former Senator Cynthia Villar, ArenaPlus chief Erick Su, Pickleball Federation of the Philippines Shery Anne Cu, and four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Bien Zoleta delivering the ceremonial serve. 

Candidates of the 2026 Miss Earth are also expected to drop by to add glitter to the affair that is bankrolled by ArenaPlus, Philippine Sports Commission and JC Premiere with support from the Villar Foundation, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, the Department of Finance, Pag-Ibig Funds, Mama Lou’s, Cebu Pacific, Hotel 101, Aeropostale and The Bistro Group.

Meanwhile, PSC chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio will spearhead the awarding ceremony around 6 p.m., together with PSC executive director Atty. Guillermo Iroy and DAILY TRIBUNE Sports editor Julius Manicad.

Champions in the four divisions — beginner, novice, low intermediate, and high intermediate — will get P15,000 cash prize on top of beautifully-crafted trophies and medals and the bragging rights of being named as the tournament’s inaugural winners. First runners-up will take home P10,000 while second runner-up will pocket P5,000. 

But the wave of prizes doesn’t stop there. Aside from the tournament’s official shirts, loot bags and meal stubs, registered participants will also be part of the raffle, where they will have a chance to win juicy prizes that include round-trip tickets to Japan courtesy of Cebu Pacific, hotel accommodations from Hotel 101 and Okura Hotel, and pickleball paddles from HEAD.

“They say the first kiss is always the sweetest. Since this is our inaugural tournament, we are going all out to spoil our guests and participants with mouthwatering prizes,” Manicad said, extending his gratitude to other sponsors like Ground Up Coffee, Boleros, Mang Guabao, Philip Morris, Pascual Laboratories, Bioessence, Axe, Rexona, Closeup, Dove, Siomai King, Ooh Cha, DITO, Ta-FBDI, Castro, Mondeliz, Coca-Cola Philippines, Guevarra’s, Joola and Akari.

“We can’t wait to roll out the red carpet for our participants. Our goal is to ensure everyone will have a good time while chasing glory and the right to be crowned the tournament’s first-ever champions.”

Players have also expressed excitement to compete, not just to win, but also to bond with other competitors and other members of the growing pickleball community. In fact, almost all of them prepared by increasing their training, making sure that they would be at their best when the opening buzzer sounded. 

“With the DAILY TRIBUNE tournament coming up, my preparation has focused on playing as much as I can in open sessions to improve my court movement. This helps me grow both as a player and as a teammate as well,” said Karl Tan, who will compete in the men’s low intermediate event.

“Can’t wait to compete and forge camaraderie with other pickleball players on Friday.”