Munro, Duong, Bates, Fudge, and Turkovic Share the Spotlight on a Night Malaysia Won't Forget
There are pickleball nights, and then there are nights like this one. On Saturday, July 25, Pickle By The Sea — that coastal pickleball haven on Gurney Drive, with Penang's skyline lighting up behind the courts and the air thick with sea salt — became the epicenter of world pickleball for five uninterrupted hours of fast tennis, roaring crowds, and pure drama. Five professional categories, ten semifinals, one stage: Championship Court, under the lights, with every point streamed live to half the planet.
The setting: a venue already playing in the big leagues
Pickle By The Sea isn't just any court setup — it's, in the organizers' own words, "a coastal pickleball haven," with 16 professional-grade courts, ocean views, and an atmosphere built for both elite competitors and spectators who just want to soak in the experience. G Hotel Gurney, right across from the venue, filled up with players, coaches, and families all weekend — the kind of host-hotel energy you only feel at major sporting events, not a run-of-the-mill tournament.
And the atmosphere delivered. With more than 1,200 registered players across all categories — a number that exceeded even the organizers' own expectations — the stands at Pickle By The Sea lived a Saturday of flags, chants, and that electric tension that only shows up when every point could decide who plays the final.
How each category played out
Men's Singles kicked things off at 1:40 PM Malaysia time, with Quang Duong — already the man of the weekend — facing Aiman Hamdan in what the local crowd received as a genuine showdown of power and speed. On the other side of the bracket, Phoenix He and Le Quoc Khanh matched that same intensity.
Women's Singles, the first category to hit the court at 1:00 PM, brought the matchup between Pei-Chuan Kao and Yu-Chieh Hsieh, plus the clash between Roos van Reek and Selina Turulja — two duos who'd already made clear, from the early rounds, that they weren't in Penang just to participate.
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Men's Doubles, at 2:20 PM, was pure power on display: Jack Munro and Aidan Schenk, the #1 seeds, against Mick and Foster; and Narayanan/Manthou against the pairing of Quang Duong (yes, him again) alongside Mehta.
Women's Doubles, at 3:00 PM, was perhaps the most emotionally charged category of the day: Policare and Megan Fudge against Van Reek and Glozman, and on the other side, the #2 seeded pair — Domenika Turkovic alongside Shelby Bates — facing off against Hendry and Harris in a matchup the Pickle By The Sea crowd followed holding its breath.
And to close it out, Mixed Doubles, at 5:00 PM, with Schenk/Fudge against Duong/Hendry, and Munro/Van Reek against Manthou/Bates — the perfect capstone to a day that gave no one a break, players and spectators alike.
The names that were everywhere
If this Saturday made anything clear, it's that a handful of players decided one title wasn't ambition enough. Jack Munro reached semifinals in two separate categories — Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles — carrying the weight of being on court for practically the entire afternoon. Quang Duong went even further: a semifinalist in Singles, Men's Doubles, and Mixed Doubles, three categories, the same day, the same body. Megan Fudge also put in a double shift, split between Mixed Doubles (alongside Schenk) and Women's Doubles (alongside Policare) — two semifinals, two different partners, the same level of demand. And Shelby Bates, pairing up with both Domenika Turkovic in Women's Doubles and Manthou in Mixed, lived through one of the physically toughest afternoons of the entire tournament.
Every one of these names was already on our "players to watch" list before the tournament even started. The prediction didn't just hold up — it undersold what actually happened.
Broadcast and how to watch, with U.S. times
Championship Court streamed live between 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM Malaysia time (GMT+8) — a window that, for anyone following from the United States, falls in the middle of the night, since Malaysia runs 12 hours ahead of Eastern Time:
Eastern Time (ET): between 1:00 AM and 6:00 AM on Saturday
Pacific Time (PT): between 10:00 PM Friday and 3:00 AM Saturday
Specific match times, converted:
Women's Singles (1:00 PM Malaysia) → 1:00 AM ET / 10:00 PM PT (Friday)
Men's Singles (1:40 PM Malaysia) → 1:40 AM ET / 10:40 PM PT (Friday)
Men's Doubles (2:20 PM Malaysia) → 2:20 AM ET / 11:20 PM PT (Friday)
Women's Doubles (3:00 PM Malaysia) → 3:00 AM ET / 12:00 AM PT
Mixed Doubles (5:00 PM Malaysia) → 5:00 AM ET / 2:00 AM PT
Within Malaysia, the broadcast was available on the Tonton app. For the rest of the world — including the United States — coverage aired on APPTV, Selkirk TV, and YouTube, bringing Asian pickleball to screens around the globe in real time.
What's next
With the semifinals now in the books, Pickle By The Sea is gearing up for its grand finale: this Sunday, the five championship matches will crown the winners of one of the biggest events in APP Asia Tour history — the same weekend that cements Malaysia as APP's new permanent home base in the region. Penang wasn't just a host this weekend. It earned, in full, the right to be one.
There are pickleball nights, and then there are nights like this one. On Saturday, July 25, Pickle By The Sea — that coastal pickleball haven on Gurney Drive, with Penang's skyline lighting up behind the courts and the air thick with sea salt — became the epicenter of world pickleball for five uninterrupted hours of fast tennis, roaring crowds, and pure drama. Five professional categories, ten semifinals, one stage: Championship Court, under the lights, with every point streamed live to half the planet.
The setting: a venue already playing in the big leagues
Pickle By The Sea isn't just any court setup — it's, in the organizers' own words, "a coastal pickleball haven," with 16 professional-grade courts, ocean views, and an atmosphere built for both elite competitors and spectators who just want to soak in the experience. G Hotel Gurney, right across from the venue, filled up with players, coaches, and families all weekend — the kind of host-hotel energy you only feel at major sporting events, not a run-of-the-mill tournament.
And the atmosphere delivered. With more than 1,200 registered players across all categories — a number that exceeded even the organizers' own expectations — the stands at Pickle By The Sea lived a Saturday of flags, chants, and that electric tension that only shows up when every point could decide who plays the final.
How each category played out
Men's Singles kicked things off at 1:40 PM Malaysia time, with Quang Duong — already the man of the weekend — facing Aiman Hamdan in what the local crowd received as a genuine showdown of power and speed. On the other side of the bracket, Phoenix He and Le Quoc Khanh matched that same intensity.
Women's Singles, the first category to hit the court at 1:00 PM, brought the matchup between Pei-Chuan Kao and Yu-Chieh Hsieh, plus the clash between Roos van Reek and Selina Turulja — two duos who'd already made clear, from the early rounds, that they weren't in Penang just to participate.
LOVE PICKLEBALL?
Get Dink Authority Magazine updates, new editions, pro stories and event alerts.
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.
Men's Doubles, at 2:20 PM, was pure power on display: Jack Munro and Aidan Schenk, the #1 seeds, against Mick and Foster; and Narayanan/Manthou against the pairing of Quang Duong (yes, him again) alongside Mehta.
Women's Doubles, at 3:00 PM, was perhaps the most emotionally charged category of the day: Policare and Megan Fudge against Van Reek and Glozman, and on the other side, the #2 seeded pair — Domenika Turkovic alongside Shelby Bates — facing off against Hendry and Harris in a matchup the Pickle By The Sea crowd followed holding its breath.
And to close it out, Mixed Doubles, at 5:00 PM, with Schenk/Fudge against Duong/Hendry, and Munro/Van Reek against Manthou/Bates — the perfect capstone to a day that gave no one a break, players and spectators alike.
The names that were everywhere
If this Saturday made anything clear, it's that a handful of players decided one title wasn't ambition enough. Jack Munro reached semifinals in two separate categories — Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles — carrying the weight of being on court for practically the entire afternoon. Quang Duong went even further: a semifinalist in Singles, Men's Doubles, and Mixed Doubles, three categories, the same day, the same body. Megan Fudge also put in a double shift, split between Mixed Doubles (alongside Schenk) and Women's Doubles (alongside Policare) — two semifinals, two different partners, the same level of demand. And Shelby Bates, pairing up with both Domenika Turkovic in Women's Doubles and Manthou in Mixed, lived through one of the physically toughest afternoons of the entire tournament.
Every one of these names was already on our "players to watch" list before the tournament even started. The prediction didn't just hold up — it undersold what actually happened.
Broadcast and how to watch, with U.S. times
Championship Court streamed live between 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM Malaysia time (GMT+8) — a window that, for anyone following from the United States, falls in the middle of the night, since Malaysia runs 12 hours ahead of Eastern Time:
Eastern Time (ET): between 1:00 AM and 6:00 AM on Saturday
Pacific Time (PT): between 10:00 PM Friday and 3:00 AM Saturday
Specific match times, converted:
Women's Singles (1:00 PM Malaysia) → 1:00 AM ET / 10:00 PM PT (Friday)
Men's Singles (1:40 PM Malaysia) → 1:40 AM ET / 10:40 PM PT (Friday)
Men's Doubles (2:20 PM Malaysia) → 2:20 AM ET / 11:20 PM PT (Friday)
Women's Doubles (3:00 PM Malaysia) → 3:00 AM ET / 12:00 AM PT
Mixed Doubles (5:00 PM Malaysia) → 5:00 AM ET / 2:00 AM PT
Within Malaysia, the broadcast was available on the Tonton app. For the rest of the world — including the United States — coverage aired on APPTV, Selkirk TV, and YouTube, bringing Asian pickleball to screens around the globe in real time.
What's next
With the semifinals now in the books, Pickle By The Sea is gearing up for its grand finale: this Sunday, the five championship matches will crown the winners of one of the biggest events in APP Asia Tour history — the same weekend that cements Malaysia as APP's new permanent home base in the region. Penang wasn't just a host this weekend. It earned, in full, the right to be one.
