Pickleball movement in Hanoi:

However, to prevent this sport from developing too quickly, managers and coaches still need to be involved to orient the movement towards professionalism and sustainability.

Exciting grassroots tournaments

In just the past 4 months, Hanoi has consecutively organized two large-scale pickleball tournaments, creating a vibrant atmosphere and bringing a new, youthful breeze to the capital's sports movement in recent times.

That is the 1st Pickleball Tournament of Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper - 2025 taking place from March 14 to 16, gathering about 500 athletes competing in 10 events including: Amateur men's doubles, amateur women's doubles, amateur mixed doubles, open men's doubles, open women's doubles, men's singles, open women's singles... in many age groups. The tournament was successfully organized, receiving high praise from experts for both professional quality and organization.

Next, the Hanoi Radio Pickleball Tournament 2025, organized by Hanoi Radio and Television, took place from June 14 to 15 at the Cau Giay Pickleball Complex, attracting more than 600 athletes from many provinces and cities to participate. The dramatic and exciting matches attracted thousands of spectators to cheer in person and watch via media platforms. These are just two of dozens of grassroots pickleball tournaments held in the capital in recent times.

Pickleball coach Nguyen Xuan Thanh (Hoang Quoc Viet court cluster, Nghia Do ward) said that pickleball is a sport that combines the playing styles of table tennis, badminton and tennis, originating from the US in the 1960s. The rules are simple, the equipment is compact and easy to access, so this sport attracts players of all ages, especially the elderly and office workers. In Hanoi, the pickleball movement has spread from central wards such as Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Cau Giay to suburban communes such as Phuc Loi, Dong Anh, Thanh Tri. Many spontaneous clubs have been established, not only creating a training environment, but also connecting the community that loves physical activities.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Pham Xuan Tai said that grassroots tournaments, including pickleball, are widely organized not only to promote mass sports, but also to create resources for high-performance sports. Pickleball has now developed in many clubs and age groups with diverse competition content, creating a useful and healthy playground.

Promote socialization

According to the Head of the Sports Management Department (Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports) Dao Quoc Thang, pickleball is an easy-to-play sport, suitable for the physique of Vietnamese people and is very popular, so it has the potential to attract investment. However, the current movement in Hanoi is still mainly for health training and entertainment. To move towards professionalism, it is necessary to raise the level of grassroots tournaments, invest in facilities, organization, and at the same time promote socialization, and organize many tournaments with high professional quality. Mr. Dao Quoc Thang added: "According to the latest project of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, pickleball will be one of the 47 official sports at the 10th National Sports Festival in 2026. To achieve this goal, pickleball in Hanoi as well as the whole country needs to organize more grassroots tournaments to spread and encourage people to participate".

Coach Nguyen Xuan Thanh also proposed to increase the organization of professional-standard amateur tournaments, inviting famous athletes to participate to attract attention. At the same time, training and coaching to improve the qualifications of the coaching staff at the base. According to coach Nguyen Xuan Thanh, if athletes are not equipped with adequate technical knowledge, they will easily get injured. Without passion and long-term commitment, it is difficult to build a strong and sustainable community and tournament system.

Medical experts also assess that pickleball helps train cardiovascular health, improve reflexes, flexibility and hand-eye coordination. In particular, the moderate intensity of exercise makes this sport suitable for many ages, contributing to improving public health.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Pham Xuan Tai affirmed that in the coming time, the Department will coordinate with other units to organize more grassroots pickleball tournaments for students. This will not only meet the entertainment and training needs of young people, but also contribute to popularizing this sport to localities, expanding the source of athletes for high-performance sports in the capital.

Not only having a strong attraction in Hanoi and some big cities, pickleball can completely become one of the popular and sustainable sports if it is managed properly, resources are socialized and invested strategically. With the cooperation of management agencies, investors and the community, it is hoped that this new sport will develop more and more in the direction of professionalism.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/phong-trao-pickleball-o-ha-noi-lam-the-nao-de-phat-trien-ben-vung-712065.html