Professional Pickleball’s Global Expansion Continues with the Announcement of the APP Asia Tour

Thedink Pickleball 7 hours ago 13 views

The Association of Pickleball Players (APP) Tour announced the 2026 APP Asia Tour. There will be six stops along the way, with exact dates to come in the future:

July - APP Penang Open, Malaysia
October - APP China Open, China
October - APP Bangkok Open, Thailand
November - APP Taipei City Open, Chinese Taipei
November - APP India Open, India
December - APP Ho Chi Minh City Open, Vietnam

The APP Tour is part of the Global Pickleball Alliance (GPA), which has already held events in Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, and India this year. During the initial GPA announcement, the APP Tour was listed as the USA based partner, but is now expanding its role internationally, as well.

With this global expansion, the APP Tour has made two key hires: Yui See Lau and Yuki Chen, have been named the Senior Vice President of Global Expansion and Director of Global Expansion for the APP, respectively. Lau and Chen will work in tandem to expand the APP’s role internationally, specifically in Asia to begin.

“It is both an honor and a privilege to join the longest-standing professional pickleball tour in the world and to lead its global expansion efforts in Asia. I look forward to drawing on my experience growing the game internationally to ensure the APP’s world-class standards continue to define the sport on a global stage.” - Yui See Lau

How this Affects the Global Pickleball Alliance

This move helps to strengthen the Global Pickleball Alliance on an international level. Some of the previous GPA events in Asia were “Powered by” the APP Tour. Now the APP Tour will have six standalone events of its own in the Asian market. Additionally, three of D-Joy’s events (Vietnam) later in the year will be “Powered by the APP”, reinforcing the strong relationships between the different GPA bodies.

What this Means for the Game Globally

There is no doubt - everyone involved in the professional side of pickleball sees global expansion as a very real goal within the next three to five years. This expansion by the APP Tour displays the organization’s commitment to growing the sport internationally and growing its presence specifically in Asia.

Nearly a year and a half ago, I wrote a piece about the “International Tour Wars”. So many things have changes in the 17 months since, that it feels like a good time for an update on the subject. Stay tuned for more.

A full copy of the APP Tour News Release can be found by clicking here.

Source: Thedink Pickleball

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