The short answer: The Grand Rally Pickleball Open 2025 in Shah Alam, Malaysia, drew nearly 1,000 competitors from 11 to 13 July, combining top international and local players with intermediate draws. The event was held at Grand Rally’s indoor facility with BYD Sime Motors as title partner, and finished with a team event. It showed how corporate support is helping pickleball grow in Malaysia.
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.
Hit it deeper!
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”.
- 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.
- 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 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, demonstrating its capability to thrive beyond traditional markets and cementing its status as a truly international, professionally supported, and commercially attractive sport.
