BIBD and Baiduri Bank brought 32 participants to a pickleball friendly at PGGMB in Bandar Seri Begawan, with 16 representatives from each bank. The gathering gave staff from competing institutions a chance to build relationships away from work through friendly competition.
Organisers highlighted teamwork and sportsmanship, while the report cited pickleball’s accessibility and social appeal as reasons for choosing it. BIBD described the event as part of its commitment to employee well-being, stakeholder engagement and a positive workplace culture.
Coachino Insight
For clubs and workplace organisers, this gathering illustrates pickleball’s role as a setting for employee activity and relationship-building across competing businesses.
Support for pickleball courts far outweighs opposition among speakers taking a position at U.S. local government meetings, according to Hamlet. The public-meeting analysis firm counted 1,152 supporters and 89 opponents in meetings across 468 cities and towns since Oct. 19, 2024, with support leading in 436.
Fresno, Riverside and Maricopa were among places with many supportive speakers, while Port St. Lucie and Tampa had more opponents. The findings offer a wider view than coverage centered on noise complaints and neighborhood disputes.
Coachino Insight
For clubs pursuing courts, the findings document strong support among meeting speakers, not a survey of residents. Local differences remain important when discussing facilities with councils.
Hunter Johnson beat Tama Shimabukuro in the PPA Tour Asia Hong Kong Slam men’s singles final, after defeating Federico Staksrud in the semifinals. Crowds packed Kai Tak Arena for an event offering $1.1 million in prize money and 1,500 World Pickleball Ranking points.
Staksrud’s quarterfinal comeback against Hong Kit Wong drew controversy: an extended equipment timeout and a 1-point penalty for inappropriate language preceded his 12-10 deciding-game win. Anna Leigh Waters won women’s doubles with Anna Bright and mixed doubles with Ben Johns.
Coachino Insight
For athletes and coaches, the Staksrud-Wong match puts equipment readiness and on-court conduct in focus: both became central issues during a closely contested deciding game.
Our analysis of today's trends: opinion, not reporting, drawn only from the verified stories above.
The U.S. court findings show strong backing among public-meeting speakers, not residents overall. For clubs seeking facilities, that distinction and local differences matter alongside the headline support.
Hong Kong Slam paired packed crowds and major prize money with a contentious quarterfinal. Equipment readiness and on-court conduct became central issues alongside competitive performance.
The Brunei bank friendly and Vientiane community tournament show pickleball serving social purposes beyond competition, connecting workplace peers and Vietnamese expatriates through exercise and shared activity.
Tournament Radar
Upcoming and in-progress events, checked against each organiser's official page.
Lea Jansen has pulled out of women's singles and mixed doubles at the PPA Tour's Virginia Beach Open with a broken left patella, but she is still playing women's doubles with Kate Fahey. The pair beat Daria Walczak and Alex Walker 11-2, 11-4 on Thursday and face fifth seeds Alix Truong and Layne Sleeth in Friday's quarterfinals.
The Dink's Erik Tice reported that the 34-year-old had played on the injury since May, through the Major League Pickleball season, until an MRI found it. Jansen expects about three months out and has left every remaining 2026 event.
Coachino Insight
A reminder for coaches: pain that lingers for months deserves a scan, not more matches. An early diagnosis can save a season that toughness alone puts at risk.
Vietnam has named eight players for the China–ASEAN Open in Guilin, scheduled for October 30 to November 2. Dân trí’s roster report includes Trần Tuệ Ngọc and Nguyễn Đắc Tiến, with Nguyễn Hải Long coaching the team and Lê Ngọc Anh leading the delegation. The ten-person group combines athletes with its coach and delegation leader. Vietnam’s sports authority separately confirms a planned 32-team competition spanning singles, doubles and mixed doubles, with the draw still to come.
Coachino Insight
A team event across five disciplines rewards balanced preparation and flexible pairings, giving coaches a different planning challenge from a stand-alone singles or doubles tournament.
Tyson McGuffin defeated Jimmy Liong 11–4, 11–4 to reach the Hong Kong Slam’s last 16. After the match, he reflected on the change from his early pickleball days to a global professional circuit. The next singles test is Hunter Johnson, while McGuffin also remains involved in doubles at the event.
Coachino Insight
An experienced player’s perspective can help developing athletes separate a long career from one tournament. Coaches can pair match review with discussion of sustainable progress.
Tama Shimabukuro will play for Team Asia International at the MLP Nations Cup in place of Vietnam's Hien Truong, the league announced on Tuesday, according to Pickleball.com. The report does not say why the change was made.
The 15-year-old joins Jack Wong, Rika Fujiwara, Macy Ybañez, Lingwei Kong and Jimmy Liong in Group B alongside Team Australia, Team Europe – East and Team Latin America. The new team event runs from October 30 to November 1 at Brookhaven Country Club, just before the Opendoor Pickleball World Championships.
Coachino Insight
A 15-year-old earning a place on a regional all-star side shows how young the international game is getting. Junior programmes can point to his path through Asian tour events.
Gabe Tardio says joining Ben Johns in men’s doubles redirected his career—and brought nerves that initially held him back. Speaking on Pickleballers, he explained that he had been considering an Indian pro league and an overseas/APP Tour schedule before Johns approached him.
Tardio instead reached a PPA Tour deal. Their debut at the Mesa Cup in February 2025 ended with silver against Andrei Daescu and Christian Alshon. He said familiarity helped him regain his natural game; the partnership has since collected 19 gold medals and won more than 95% of its matches.
Coachino Insight
Tardio’s account highlights the pressure of a new partnership: he linked his early hesitation to unfamiliarity with Johns, and greater comfort to time spent playing together.
Domenika Turkovic closed her Louisville player diary with a singles title and silver medals in both doubles events. It was her first tournament with three finals. Writing after play on Sunday, she credited her partners and described plans to return to Croatia after a long stretch of travel. The first-person account adds an athlete’s view of managing a demanding tournament weekend.
Coachino Insight
For coaches, the diary is a useful conversation starter about switching partners, handling successive finals and planning recovery after competition.
When Federico Staksrud could not travel to the Australia Pickleball Cup because of visa problems, Christian Alshon turned to Benjamin Bramblett, his social media manager and full-time hitting partner. Bramblett, a left-hander who last played pro events years ago, and Alshon go back three years.
The stand-in pair won their round of 32 match 11-4, 11-2, took the round of 16 and reached the men's doubles quarterfinals against No. 11 seeds George Wall and Joey Wild. Alshon admitted expectations were modest after Bramblett's long break from tour play.
Coachino Insight
Solid fundamentals travel: a regular practice partner who knows a pro’s patterns can hold up at tour level, which is why a steady hitting partner matters so much in training.
World No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters has finished her first trip to Manila, a three-day stay as the headliner of the Franklin Asia Pickleball Showcase, The Philippine Star reports. At a press event in Makati backed by sponsors Franklin Sports and IAM Worldwide, she announced she will be back on December 9 for the IAM Worldwide Pickleball Showdown at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Franklin also set out plans to back regional tournaments, youth clinics and wider equipment distribution in the Philippines. The 19-year-old's Asian swing continues in Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Coachino Insight
A visit from the world's top player gives Philippine clubs a moment to recruit juniors. Coaches can turn that attention into beginner clinics well before the December return.
The APP says players from abroad have shaped its 2026 season, winning titles in Malaysia and England and breaking through in the United States. Croatia's Domenika Turkovic took her first APP Tour gold in Columbus, beating Jessica Evanier 11-8, 11-7, and now has seven medals this year.
The Netherlands' Roos Van Reek collected Triple Crowns in Vietnam and Penang, Vietnam's Quang Duong won singles gold in Penang, and 19-year-old Australian Nicola Schoeman claimed mixed gold in Detroit. Hungary's Bálint Bakó, part of the Touring Pro program, earned his first medal there.
Coachino Insight
International players now win regularly on American courts. For coaches abroad, the tour development pathways show a realistic route from national rankings to professional medals.
Zane Navratil has come out against any UPA rule limiting taunting or screaming, Pickleball.com reports. In an Instagram post, the pro said players should be free to show emotion and leave it to fans and social media to decide who has gone too far, adding that indifference harms the sport more than noise does.
He pointed to the NFL's unpopular taunting rule and to the UFC's trash talk, and described pros as entertainers rather than role models. Navratil also admitted regretting his own outburst at the MLP Playoffs.
Coachino Insight
Whatever the tour decides, juniors copy what they watch. Coaches can set their own standards for celebrations and respect, separate from what entertains a television audience.
Federico Staksrud joined Pickleballers to discuss his path from a software company job to the top of pickleball. He addressed his MLP trade to the New Jersey 5s, pressure tied to his $400K price tag, and his PPA Tour reunion with Hayden Patriquin. Staksrud also explained how coaching, disciplined training and a full-time athlete lifestyle shaped his pursuit of No. 1.
Coachino Insight
Staksrud’s account highlights how structured practice, lifestyle commitment and partnership management can influence performance at the highest levels of professional pickleball.
