APP Asia Tour 2026: Professional Pickleball Arrives in Asia
APP Asia Tour: Professional Pickleball Arrives in Asia
This is not a tour. It is an invasion.
Chicago, USA / Penang, Malaysia — There are moments in the history of a sport when something changes permanently. On July 22, 2026, when the first serve lands at the Leapmotor APP Penang Open in Malaysia, professional pickleball will have crossed a threshold with no return.
The APP Asia Tour — the largest professional pickleball circuit ever built in Asia — is real. It is sanctioned. And it is about to begin.
The Alliance That Makes It Possible
The APP Asia Tour did not arrive overnight. It was built on a structure that few emerging sports have been able to replicate: the Asian Pickleball Association and the Asia Federation of Pickleball — the two most important governing bodies for pickleball in Asia — granted their dual official sanctioning to the tour, making it the most legitimate and best-supported professional circuit the sport has ever had on the continent.
The base of operations: Malaysia — officially named the headquarters of the APP Tour in Asia. This is not an administrative detail. It is a strategic declaration about where pickleball is going to grow fastest over the next five years.
The sponsors backing the tour confirm it: Leapmotor — the cutting-edge automotive brand — and Selkirk — one of the world's leading paddle brands — are the first partners of the APP Asia Tour. Two completely different industries betting on the same market.
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The Calendar: 6 Stops, One Continent
The APP Asia Tour 2026 already has two events in its history — the Leapmotor APP Kuala Lumpur Open in February and an event in Japan — and now enters its most ambitious phase:
🇲🇾 Leapmotor APP Penang Open — July 22-26, 2026
🇲🇾 Monsoon Open — July 28 - August 2, 2026
🇻🇳 D-Joy Vietnam Powered by APP — September 10-13, 2026
🇨🇳 APP China Open — October 2026
🇦🇪 Dubai Open — October 21-25, 2026
🇨🇳 Chongti APP Chongqing Open — To be confirmed
Six stops. Five countries. A tour stretching from the Persian Gulf to the South China Sea.
The Players: The APP Tour's Court of Stars
On June 25, 2026, the APP Tour announced its roster of players signed to multi-year agreements. And the photo says it all — gathered in a single image, the names that will define professional pickleball in 2026 and beyond:
Megan Fudge — The most decorated player in APP Tour history. 85 medals. 30 golds. The record nobody has been able to reach.
Sofia Sewing — The dominant force in the women's circuit. 13 golds in 2025 alone, including 8 singles titles.
Jack Munro — The #1 ranked player on the APP Tour. 17 career golds. The same player who competed with tonsillitis and eight pounds of weight loss in Vietnam — and showed up to the final anyway.
Bobbi Oshiro — 35 total medals, 13 golds. Seven titles in 2025 with three different partners.
Roos Van Reek — Europe arrives at the APP Tour. The Dutch player brings her international circuit experience to the biggest stage.
Harsh Mehta — Mumbai, India. Asia has its own signed representative in the most important tour on the continent.
Ryan Fu — One of the fastest-rising pros on the circuit. Gold and silver in international GPA events in 2026.
Quang Duong — Hanoi, Vietnam. 20 years old. One of the most electrifying players in international pickleball. A living bridge between Vietnam and the global circuit.
Shelby Bates — Three women's doubles golds in 2025. Consistent, dangerous and signed.
And alongside them, a court of major stars that make this the most international roster professional pickleball has ever seen — with players from the United States, Vietnam, India, the Netherlands, Australia, France, Poland, England and Spain.
Penang: The First Major Stop
The Leapmotor APP Penang Open — July 22-26 — is the event that starts everything in earnest. Penang is one of Asia's most vibrant cities: an island in the Strait of Malacca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with cuisine recognized among the best in the world and a culture that blends Chinese, Malay and colonial influences in a way that exists nowhere else on the planet.
And now it has world-class pickleball.
The tournament combines elite competition with premium social activations — the experience does not end when the match ends. It is exactly the model the sport needs to break into new markets: top-level play plus an experience worth the trip.
The Vision Behind It All
Ken Herrmann, founder of the APP Tour, said it from the beginning: "We stay committed to being a resource for pickleball players worldwide, and giving our pro players a global stage to shine."
That stage now has an address: Asia.
With the Global Pickleball Alliance as the framework, the APP Tour as the American anchor, and Malaysia as the Asian base of operations — professional pickleball has for the first time in its history a truly global architecture.
The table is set for pickleball fans around the world. The APP Asia Tour promises to be highly competitive and full of emotions in 2026. Get ready for the dessert — and enjoy the best global pickleball.
"See you on the courts."
— Dink Authority Editorial Team
APP Asia Tour: Professional Pickleball Arrives in Asia
This is not a tour. It is an invasion.
Chicago, USA / Penang, Malaysia — There are moments in the history of a sport when something changes permanently. On July 22, 2026, when the first serve lands at the Leapmotor APP Penang Open in Malaysia, professional pickleball will have crossed a threshold with no return.
The APP Asia Tour — the largest professional pickleball circuit ever built in Asia — is real. It is sanctioned. And it is about to begin.
The Alliance That Makes It Possible
The APP Asia Tour did not arrive overnight. It was built on a structure that few emerging sports have been able to replicate: the Asian Pickleball Association and the Asia Federation of Pickleball — the two most important governing bodies for pickleball in Asia — granted their dual official sanctioning to the tour, making it the most legitimate and best-supported professional circuit the sport has ever had on the continent.
The base of operations: Malaysia — officially named the headquarters of the APP Tour in Asia. This is not an administrative detail. It is a strategic declaration about where pickleball is going to grow fastest over the next five years.
The sponsors backing the tour confirm it: Leapmotor — the cutting-edge automotive brand — and Selkirk — one of the world's leading paddle brands — are the first partners of the APP Asia Tour. Two completely different industries betting on the same market.
LOVE PICKLEBALL?
Get Dink Authority Magazine updates, new editions, pro stories and event alerts.
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.
The Calendar: 6 Stops, One Continent
The APP Asia Tour 2026 already has two events in its history — the Leapmotor APP Kuala Lumpur Open in February and an event in Japan — and now enters its most ambitious phase:
🇲🇾 Leapmotor APP Penang Open — July 22-26, 2026
🇲🇾 Monsoon Open — July 28 - August 2, 2026
🇻🇳 D-Joy Vietnam Powered by APP — September 10-13, 2026
🇨🇳 APP China Open — October 2026
🇦🇪 Dubai Open — October 21-25, 2026
🇨🇳 Chongti APP Chongqing Open — To be confirmed
Six stops. Five countries. A tour stretching from the Persian Gulf to the South China Sea.
The Players: The APP Tour's Court of Stars
On June 25, 2026, the APP Tour announced its roster of players signed to multi-year agreements. And the photo says it all — gathered in a single image, the names that will define professional pickleball in 2026 and beyond:
Megan Fudge — The most decorated player in APP Tour history. 85 medals. 30 golds. The record nobody has been able to reach.
Sofia Sewing — The dominant force in the women's circuit. 13 golds in 2025 alone, including 8 singles titles.
Jack Munro — The #1 ranked player on the APP Tour. 17 career golds. The same player who competed with tonsillitis and eight pounds of weight loss in Vietnam — and showed up to the final anyway.
Bobbi Oshiro — 35 total medals, 13 golds. Seven titles in 2025 with three different partners.
Roos Van Reek — Europe arrives at the APP Tour. The Dutch player brings her international circuit experience to the biggest stage.
Harsh Mehta — Mumbai, India. Asia has its own signed representative in the most important tour on the continent.
Ryan Fu — One of the fastest-rising pros on the circuit. Gold and silver in international GPA events in 2026.
Quang Duong — Hanoi, Vietnam. 20 years old. One of the most electrifying players in international pickleball. A living bridge between Vietnam and the global circuit.
Shelby Bates — Three women's doubles golds in 2025. Consistent, dangerous and signed.
And alongside them, a court of major stars that make this the most international roster professional pickleball has ever seen — with players from the United States, Vietnam, India, the Netherlands, Australia, France, Poland, England and Spain.
Penang: The First Major Stop
The Leapmotor APP Penang Open — July 22-26 — is the event that starts everything in earnest. Penang is one of Asia's most vibrant cities: an island in the Strait of Malacca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with cuisine recognized among the best in the world and a culture that blends Chinese, Malay and colonial influences in a way that exists nowhere else on the planet.
And now it has world-class pickleball.
The tournament combines elite competition with premium social activations — the experience does not end when the match ends. It is exactly the model the sport needs to break into new markets: top-level play plus an experience worth the trip.
The Vision Behind It All
Ken Herrmann, founder of the APP Tour, said it from the beginning: "We stay committed to being a resource for pickleball players worldwide, and giving our pro players a global stage to shine."
That stage now has an address: Asia.
With the Global Pickleball Alliance as the framework, the APP Tour as the American anchor, and Malaysia as the Asian base of operations — professional pickleball has for the first time in its history a truly global architecture.
The table is set for pickleball fans around the world. The APP Asia Tour promises to be highly competitive and full of emotions in 2026. Get ready for the dessert — and enjoy the best global pickleball.
"See you on the courts."
— Dink Authority Editorial Team
