Landmark partnership with a global rating system backed by celebrities the likes of LeBron James and Andre Agassi. Photo Credit: iStock/Alvaro Moreno Perez
A global pickleball championship – aiming to be the pinnacle of the amateur sport – will inaugurate in Singapore in April 2026, gathering top-ranked players from across the world and unlocking new opportunities in amateur sports-holiday tourism.
Landmark partnership
The inaugural EPIC World Championship is the result of a landmark partnership with the celebrity-backed DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating), the world's largest pickleball platform powering millions of players and thousands of clubs globally.
EPIC World Championship participants qualify by being top-ranked DUPR players in their countries or by winning locally sanctioned tournaments.
DUPR is chaired by David Kass and backed by elite investors and venture firms including Jay Farner, LeBron James, Gary Vee, Michael B. Jordan, Kevin Durant, Patrick Mahomes, Andre Agassi, and more.
For the first time, DUPR and EPIC are joining forces and allowing pickleball players to participate in “an international sport-holiday competition,” EPIC stated in a press release.
"The EPIC World Championship is a landmark moment in pickleball. By requiring DUPR for every competitor and welcoming top-ranked amateur players from every nation, we're taking a bold step to unite amateur athletes worldwide and redefine what's possible in global sport," said Tito Machado, CEO of DUPR.
The prize purse starts at a guaranteed US$50,000 and escalates with every new player registration, with organisers expecting to attract millions of amateur pickleball players to the championship.
Singapore hits home
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is upbeat about “the excitement that this fast-growing sport will bring to our shores,” said CEO Melissa Ow.
The event is set to take place over four days in April 2026 at the Singapore Sports Hub (Kallang Tennis Hub).
Beyond creating a distinct destination experience for visitors and locals, Ow also expects the championship to lead visitors to discover Singapore's offerings beyond the competition.
As the official venue partner of EPIC, Singapore Sports Hub will host four action-packed days at the Kallang Tennis Hub.
EPIC's founding team includes global pickleball entrepreneur Yui See Lau, founder of the Canadian National Pickleball League and owner of MiLP China and Canada; and Victor Cui, a global sports industry leader who brings more than 30 years of worldwide sports business experience to ignite this movement and spotlight Singapore.