Eight sports that thrived in 2023's spotlight

Pickleball

Thanks to promotion on social media and by local clubs, pickleball, now one of the fast-growing sports in the US, has gained sudden popularity among young people across China since spring this year.

In China, from April 8 to May 8, lifestyle social media platform Xiaohongshu launched a campaign called "Pickleball Together" to promote the sport and recruit members for its own Pickleball League.

"Now in 2023, this sport is booming and becoming a trendy activity among urban young people," said Zeng Guobiao, director of the China Liaison Office of the International Pickleball Federation (IPF).

Pickleball is a racket-style sport that combines the characteristics of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. It is easy to learn and fun to play with simple rules.

The number of pickleball players in the United States has skyrocketed from 4.82 million in 2021 to over 36 million in 2023, demonstrating an astonishing growth trend.

Nearly one-third of the players are aged between 18 and 34, making up the largest percentage of pickleball players nationwide, according to the US Association of Pickleball Professionals.