The perfect dink
Cu turns setback into motivation, sparks pickleball revolution
SHERY Anne Cu’s setback in a random game inspired her to work hard that paved the way for the pickleball revolution in the country.
Photograph by Joey Sanchez Mendoza for DAILY TRIBUNE
A single defeat can spark a movement.
For Shery Cu, that setback happened on a pickleball court, where a veteran of tennis, badminton, ping-pong and volleyball found herself soundly beaten by someone much older.
It wasn’t supposed to be a life-changing moment, but it became one.
That competitive fire pulled her deep into pickleball, a sport she only picked up in June 2024 but now carries with a mission far bigger than winning medals or settling scores.
“You become addicted. You think, ‘How can I lose? I can do this.’ But the person who beat me was much older. That’s where you get hooked,” Cu said during the previous episode of Off the Court, the weekly online sports show of DAILY TRIBUNE.
“It’s easy to pick up. If you’re persistent, like me, who becomes addicted and plays a few days a week, it’s really fun.”
As president of the Philippine Pickleball Federation (PPF), the 48-year-old Cu is steering a rapidly growing community. She believes the sport can place the Philippines on the global map — not just as a breeding ground for elite players, but as a premier training and competition hub for international athletes.
“It is really the passion for pickleball and for the players. My motivation is wanting to put the Philippine pickleball community on the world stage,” Cu added.
That inclusivity has turned the sport into a family affair for Cu, the second of five siblings from a deeply athletic household. Her father was a ping-pong player, while her mother was a cheerleader.
Still, breaking into traditional racket sports wasn’t automatic. Cu recalled how one of her brothers, a tennis purist, initially scoffed at the sport — a common sentiment among tennis players.
But the paddle eventually did the talking.
“One of my brothers is really into tennis. Usually, tennis players feel that pickleball is not a real sport because tennis is the real sport,” Cu said, smiling.
“My brother told me, ‘let’s play singles,’ but he lost. Now, other tennis players play pickleball. My other brother plays recreationally, and my dad likes it, too.”
Guiding this explosive, wild growth is the PPF’s main challenge. Incorporated in 2023 by a group of badminton enthusiasts turned pickleball pioneers, the federation is moving from grassroots promotion to serious governance.
SHERY ANNE Cu (left, seated) and other pickleball stakeholders draw the support of PSC chairman Patrick ‘Pato’ Gregorio that will lead to the country’s hosting of the Professional Pickleball Association 125 in Dumaguete City this November.