Jack Wong Hong-kit believes pickleball deserves to stand on its own and not just be considered an extension of other racquet sports.

Speaking ahead of this week’s Hong Kong Open, the city’s top player said he was focused on making his home fans proud as the Professional Pickleball Association makes its debut at Kai Tak Arena on Thursday.

The former national team tennis player also said he was able to find “my second spring” in pickleball and dreamed of representing Hong Kong if the sport were ever included in the Olympics.

“People said it’s like tennis or table tennis, but I don’t think so; there are maybe some similar moves, but pickleball is a sport of its own,” said Wong, who retired from tennis for the second time last year to focus on a new career.

“Pickleball doesn’t require much stamina, but there are so many technical details and variations. It’s not like tennis, which requires sheer power, and you just need to serve hard to win.”

The 26-year-old said players with tennis, table tennis, and badminton backgrounds would find pickleball relatively easy to learn and might even show rapid improvement within the first three months.