Age is just a number as two Singaporeans in their 50s get professional pickleball contracts

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SINGAPORE – For much of his working career, Yeo Jih-Shian had envied the life of a professional athlete. At the age of 56, he became one – beyond his wildest imagination.

The retired lawyer, who had played table tennis, badminton and tennis, picked up pickleball during the Covid-19 pandemic and went on to win various tournaments, prompting apparel brand Sypik to offer him a one-year contract with its professional pickleball team.

Joining him are Singapore’s top women’s doubles players – 25-year-old Zermaine Lew (No. 1), 57-year-old Pini Lee (No. 2) – and men’s doubles player Ping Boon Chia, 40.

They will receive a monthly allowance, reimbursement for travel expenses for overseas tournaments as well as performance bonuses. Sypik has also signed players from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia as part of its efforts to grow the sport.

Its spokesperson Giang Huyen Trang said Sypik wants to support more pickleball players from the region, adding: “This partnership marks a significant milestone for pickleball in Singapore and is a testament to the growing prominence of pickleball in Singapore.”

Yeo got hooked on pickleball – a cross between tennis and table tennis, and is played on a badminton-sized court – after a friend introduced it to him in 2021 and is currently Singapore’s top-ranked men’s doubles player.

He said: “Through much of my working life, I always thought, ‘How nice it would be to be like a professional athlete’, but I never thought I would ever become a professional.

“I’m really grateful that at the age of 56 going on 57, I can still play, be a professional athlete and play in a professional team and be sponsored for it, because I think in almost no other sport will this happen.

“It’s a unique sport in that, in pickleball, you don’t need power and speed, so the older players can still play competitively and beat the younger players.”

Adrian Cheah, Sypik’s pro team manager for Singapore, said it had signed the quartet to help grow the local market.

Even though Yeo and Lee are in their 50s, beyond the typical age range for professional athletes, they were offered contracts after winning titles in Kuala Lumpur, China and the United States.

“How often does this opportunity come by for people, even those in their 30s, to come out and play professionally, whatever sport that may be,” Cheah added.

In pickleball, players are ranked based on their dynamic universal pickleball rating (Dupr), ranging from 2.000 to 8.000. Yeo tops the Singapore men’s doubles ranking with a 5.148 rating.

56-year-old Yeo Jih-Shian (centre left), won the mixed doubles gold with partner Zermaine Lew (centre right) at the KL Open Pickleball Championships in April. PHOTO: COURTESY OF YEO JIH-SHIAN

His recent triumphs include winning the open mixed doubles title with Lew at the Kuala Lumpur Open Pickleball Championships in April, taking home RM3,500 (S$1,050).

Lew started playing pickleball in 2023 after her father introduced her to the sport.

She had spent her childhood playing a different racket sport – she was part of the national youth table tennis team until she was 17.

Lew, an analyst with an Australian mining company, said: “I’m really fortunate that my company has been super supportive of my pickleball journey, especially when I’m representing Singapore overseas.

“I do take time off for tournaments, but I always make sure my work is covered and deadlines are met.”

The players are looking forward to competing on the Professional Pickleball Association Tour Asia, with stops in Hong Kong (Aug 21-24) and Fukuoka, Japan (Aug 26-31), before heading to the Kuala Lumpur leg in October.

Lew added: “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for myself to grow as a pickleball player.

“I’m just excited to be on this journey with them, (there is) a really huge growing pickleball community here, so I’m quite excited to be able to work with Sypik to promote the sport here.”

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