The Affiliation of Pickleball Gamers (APP) is coming to Asia—and it isn’t arriving quietly.
The APP, which payments itself because the official tour of pickleball, has unveiled the APP Asia Tour, a six-event circuit spanning six nations and areas throughout the continent in 2026. The tour visits Malaysia, China, Thailand, Chinese language Taipei, India, and Vietnam, with full dates to be confirmed, and marks the primary time the American-based tour has launched a devoted Asian professional circuit.
The schedule is as follows:
- APP Penang Open in Malaysia in July
- APP China Open and APP Bangkok Open in October
- APP Taipei Metropolis Open and APP India Open in November
- APP Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Open in Vietnam in December.
The tour additionally deepens the APP’s present partnership with D-Pleasure Pickleball, the main pickleball entity in Vietnam, underneath the International Pickleball Alliance occasion calendar. Three of D-Pleasure’s 2026 tournaments—in June, September, and November—will formally be “Powered by the APP.”
APP founder Ken Herrmann was unambiguous about what the announcement represents.
“That is one other monumental day for the APP, and for our pickleball associates throughout the globe,” Herrmann stated. “There was an unbelievable development in participation throughout Asia, and we’re proud to additional set up our roots with the APP Asia Tour. We’re proud to serve these gamers, present unmatched sources and experiences, and produce one other aggressive platform to aspiring professional gamers throughout the globe.”
The numbers behind the enlargement inform their very own story. In line with YouGov knowledge, near 812 million individuals throughout Asia have performed pickleball a minimum of as soon as, with 282 million taking part in a minimum of as soon as month-to-month. Gamers aged 18 to 35 signify the game’s most lively demographic on the continent—mirroring traits in the US and pointing to a era of potential skilled expertise that the APP is now positioning itself to develop and showcase.
APP Brings in Trade Veterans for APP Asia Tour
To steer that effort, the APP has introduced in two trade veterans. Yui See Lau joins as Senior Vice President of International Growth, bringing greater than a decade of expertise in sports activities, leisure, and worldwide model improvement. She co-founded the Canadian Nationwide Pickleball League—now in its fourth season—and beforehand served as DUPR’s director in China, scaling the score platform into the nation’s most generally used system. Yuki Chen joins as Director of International Growth, reporting to Lau. Chen beforehand served as DUPR China’s undertaking supervisor and ran the DUPR Tournaments WeChat Mini-Program, which grew to serve over 20,000 gamers and greater than 500 golf equipment throughout China.
“It’s each an honour and a privilege to hitch the longest-standing skilled pickleball tour on the planet and to steer its world enlargement efforts in Asia,” Lau stated. “I look ahead to drawing on my expertise rising the sport internationally to make sure the APP’s world-class requirements proceed to outline the game on a world stage.”
Chen was equally emphatic. “We’re extremely excited to help APP Tour’s worldwide enlargement. We consider deeply in its inclusive, collaborative method to rising the game and welcome the chance to construct on the sturdy legacy established in the US and produce it to the worldwide stage.”
The APP Asia Tour sits inside the broader framework of the International Pickleball Alliance, a coalition designed to align skilled pickleball organisations, harmonise aggressive constructions and world rankings, and create the game’s first actually related worldwide calendar. Main GPA occasions have already taken place in Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, and India in 2026.
Six occasions. Six nations. One unmistakable route.
