Grand Rally Open 2025 Sets New Pickleball Standard in Asia

What's the Score?

The Grand Rally Pickleball Open 2025 in Shah Alam, Malaysia, successfully demonstrated that a local tournament can achieve and even surpass world-class standards, drawing nearly 1,000 competitors, including both top international and local talent. Hosted at Grand Rally's premium indoor facility, the event met its ambitious goals of showcasing elite-level play and actively engaging intermediate players. Crucially, the tournament's resounding success was significantly bolstered by a pivotal title partnership with BYD Sime Motors, powerfully highlighting the growing and essential role of corporate support in the global expansion and professionalisation of pickleball.

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From July 11th to 13th, 2025, the area surrounding the multi-storey car park by Giant hypermarket Shah Alam was transformed into a bustling hub of athletic excitement, as it played host to the Grand Rally Pickleball Open. Ken Kong and his team at Grand Rally Pickleball conceptualised the tournament with several clear and ambitious aims. They sought to showcase their premium, state-of-the-art pickleball facility, which boasts 17 well-maintained indoor courts. Beyond that, they strived to attract top international talent to demonstrate their skills to the Malaysian pickleball ecosystem, entice intermediate players to participate in and experience a world-class tournament, and organise a unique team competition that would allow intermediate players to compete directly against elite athletes, ultimately providing elite-level competition in the closing rounds. According to Melina Hwang, Director of LinkedUp and the tournament organiser, the event was an operational triumph, running smoothly and largely on time with very few delays. She noted, "barring a very few small, isolated incidents, we gave the nearly 1,000 competitors an excellent few days of competition and, most importantly, an enjoyable experience".

The tournament served as a powerful testament to the escalating quality of pickleball in Malaysia, demonstrating its capacity to rival events organised by major international bodies like the PPA and WPC. Key highlights from the three days of competition included:

• Men’s Open Singles: This division culminated in an exciting "battle of Malaysia versus India." Two of Malaysia’s top singles players, Syed Uzair Sufi and Muhammad Aiman, made it to the semifinals, facing off against India’s finest, Sonu Kumar Vishwakarma and Tejas Ravindra Mahajan. In the final, despite being close friends off the court, Sonu and Tejas intensely competed, with Sonu securing gold with a full stretch backhand cross-court passing shot. A significant takeaway was the close nature of the semifinals, suggesting that Malaysian players are rapidly closing the skill gap with international counterparts, a notable improvement from just 12 months prior when they often felt like "deers caught in the headlights" against international competition.
• Men’s 50+ Open Doubles: This category delivered an "excellent show," producing several closely fought games. A special mention went to Lim Kim Jim and John Wong, who narrowly missed bronze by one point against Indonesia’s Edy Kurniawan, a player noted for his athleticism, defying his age. The highlight, however, was Danny Tan and Liew Kim Tu storming through the field to claim gold, solidifying Danny Tan's reputation as one of Malaysia’s top over-50 players, consistently achieving podium positions regardless of his partner.
• Mixed Open Doubles: This division notably attracted some of Asia’s very top talent, with world-class pairings such as Neilson Chen (Taiwan) and Isha Lakhani (India) gracing the courts. Malaysian sensation Neem Shamsuddin, who has previously competed on the PPA Tour in the U.S., confirmed that some of these Asian players are indeed "world-class" and possess the standard to compete effectively on the U.S. tour. Malaysia’s PPA Trailblazer Jimmy Liong and his partner Mia bt Azizul Azhar performed incredibly well in such an elite-level, stacked field to reach the final but ultimately settled for silver after losing to Australia’s Mitchel William Donald Hargreaves and China’s Yufei Long (another PPA Trailblazer). This championship pairing played at a level rarely seen live in Malaysia, impressing the large crowd with their exceptional accuracy, speed, and reactions, motivating many Malaysians in attendance to improve their own game.

A crucial element underpinning the tournament's success was the significant support received from the corporate sector. Ken Kong, the Grand Rally Owner, explicitly stated that running a tournament of this scale is simply not commercially viable without such backing. The event benefited from the generous support of numerous local and international companies, with BYD Sime Motors taking on the prestigious title partnership and providing substantial commercial assistance that was essential in bringing the tournament from conception to reality.

The BYD Sime Motors Team present at the event clarified their rationale for supporting pickleball. As a distributor, BYD Sime Motors perceives significant value in partnering with lifestyle events like the Grand Rally Open, particularly as pickleball’s popularity rapidly expands in Malaysia. This partnership offers a unique opportunity to connect with a broader and more dynamic audience. When asked why pickleball specifically, they responded that "Pickleball is fun, active, and inclusive—these are values that resonate with our brand". Their commitment extends beyond this tournament, as they plan to host a new car launch in two weeks where pickleball will be integrated into the lifestyle experience, showcasing models like the BYD Atto 2, which they claim embodies a fun, fast-paced lifestyle. BYD Sime Motors also emphasised their importance regarding social responsibility and fostering a healthy nation.

The final day of the tournament culminated in a highly competitive team event, strategically mixed with DUPR 5+ rated players from across Asia alongside several local teams with DUPR ratings from 3.5 to early 4s. This unique format provided local players with an invaluable opportunity to mix and play with Asia’s elite, before settling in to spectate as the top players battled each other in later rounds. In the opinion of Pickleball News Asia (PNA), the Grand Rally team successfully met the lofty objectives they had set for the tournament, promising exciting future events at this venue.

The World Pickleball Verdict

The Grand Rally Pickleball Open 2025, powered significantly by BYD Sime Motors, stands as a compelling case study for pickleball's exponential global expansion and its increasing commercial viability. Its resounding success underscores that local initiatives, when strategically bolstered by robust corporate partnerships, possess the capacity to elevate regional play to international standards and attract top-tier talent. BYD's substantial involvement powerfully highlights a growing and crucial trend: major corporations recognising pickleball’s broad, multi-generational appeal and its potential as a powerful platform for brand association and community engagement. This tournament's achievement signifies a pivotal moment for pickleball's burgeoning presence in Asia, definitively demonstrating its capability to thrive beyond traditional markets and cementing its status as a truly international, professionally supported, and commercially attractive sport.