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.
Jack Munro collected two golds at the first Humana APP Louisville Open, the APP reports. He and Richard Livornese Jr. beat Zack Marceau and Aidan Schenk 12-10, 11-2 for a seventh men's doubles title in a row, and he won the mixed with the Netherlands' Roos Van Reek.
Croatia's Domenika Turkovic came back to beat top seed Kat Stewart 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, winning singles gold for a second event running after taking silver in both doubles finals. Ronan Camron edged Dusty Boyer in three games, and Bobbi Oshiro and Stewart won the women's doubles.
Coachino Insight
Seven straight titles show what a settled partnership can achieve. Turkovic's three finals reward a player willing to enter every event and keep learning against top opponents.
Kate Fahey left the Virginia Beach Open with two titles, Pickleball.com reports. She and first-time partner Eric Oncins won mixed doubles from 2-8 down in the third game, and she then beat the 21st seed, Helena Jansen Fink, 11-1, 11-9 for the singles crown, her first double at a single event.
Sofia Sewing earned her first PPA Tour title in women's doubles with Catherine Parenteau, while Elliott Schupp and Jaume Martinez Vich both won for the first time in men's doubles. John Lucian Goins took the men's singles without losing a game all week.
Coachino Insight
Three first-time champions in a week without the sport's biggest stars show how close the next tier is. Players chasing a breakthrough should treat open draws as real chances.
With several big names absent, Semifinal Saturday at the PPA Tour's Virginia Beach Open is full of fresh chances, Pickleball.com reports. In women's singles, No. 19 Sofia Sewing, who upset No. 2 seed Brooke Buckner in three games on Thursday, and No. 21 Helena Jansen Fink are each a win away from a first PPA Tour final.
No. 2 Noe Khlif and No. 7 Adam Harvey are chasing their first singles finals on U.S. soil, while Will Howells, Elliott Schupp and Max Freeman could make a first final in men's doubles.
Coachino Insight
Draws without the usual favourites reward players who prepare for every opponent. Sewing shows that a deep run can start from a double-digit seed when the chance appears.
The Humana APP Louisville Open brings four days of pro, AARP 50+ and 60+, Humana Cup and amateur play to the Kentucky International Convention Center, with the PickleY'all festival outside on October 16 and 17.
Jack Munro and Richard Livornese Jr. arrive on a run of six straight men's pro doubles titles, and Munro's 8 golds are the most of any APP pro this year. Megan Fudge, who won in Overland Park with Kat Stewart, now shares the women's pro gold record of 33 with Simone Jardim. Coverage runs Friday to Sunday on APPTV's YouTube channel and ESPN+.
Coachino Insight
Club doubles players can take a lesson from Munro and Livornese: six titles in a row come from a settled partnership with clear roles, which often matters more than raw shot-making.
Anna Leigh Waters won mixed doubles with Ben Johns to secure her 200th career PPA Tour title, then added women’s doubles and singles gold to leave the Chicago Cup with 202 titles and 45 Triple Crowns. Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin won men’s doubles, while Roscoe Bellamy took men’s singles and qualifier Emilien Burnel reached the semifinals.
Coachino Insight
Waters’ milestone highlights sustained elite performance, while Burnel’s qualifying run and the men’s doubles upsets show how emerging players and pairings can reshape a tournament draw.
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.
The East Coast Regional in Fort Lauderdale awarded 200 players free entry to the Pickle Money Ball National Championship. Each division’s Top 4 qualified for the Las Vegas tournament, scheduled for July 26-31, 2027, with more than $1 million in amateur prize money.
Held at The Fort, the regional drew more than 550 competitors and offered a $625,000 prize pool. Division winners received $2,000 per player, with payouts extending through the Top 16. It was the final regional of 2026 and the tour’s biggest event to date.
Coachino Insight
For amateur players, the qualification pathway offers both prize money and waived entry fees: Luke Schmidt turned a $100 local qualifier entry into $1,625 and a national berth.
Gabe Tardio and Tyra Black each won two titles at the Australia Pickleball Cup in Brisbane. Tardio partnered Hayden Patriquin to win men’s doubles, while Black took women’s doubles alongside Jorja Johnson. Tardio and Black also combined for the mixed doubles title.
Hunter Johnson won men’s singles, with Andie Dikosavljevic taking women’s singles. Christian Alshon’s week included playing doubles with his social media manager and a heated verbal confrontation with Johnson in the singles final.
Coachino Insight
The Brisbane results highlight success across doubles disciplines: Tardio and Black each won with different partners before sharing the mixed doubles title.
Sofia Sewing, Jaume Martinez Vich and Elliott Schupp claimed their first PPA Tour titles at the Virginia Beach Open, where several leading players were absent. Sewing won women’s doubles with Catherine Parenteau, while Martinez Vich and Schupp took men’s doubles in their debut partnership.
Kate Fahey captured mixed doubles with Eric Oncins and added the women’s singles crown, winning multiple titles at an event for the first time. John Lucian Goins won men’s singles without dropping a game all week.
Coachino Insight
New partnerships delivered titles in men’s and mixed doubles, while the depleted field gave emerging contenders opportunities to turn deep runs into championships.
The Humana APP Louisville Open puts mixed doubles on Championship Court on Friday, October 16, with APPTV coverage starting at noon Eastern. The tour’s viewing announcement adds a practical way to follow a week with several record chases.
In the pre-event standings, Jack Munro and Richard Livornese Jr. had six consecutive men’s doubles titles and were pursuing a seventh. Megan Fudge’s 33 women’s doubles titles matched Simone Jardim. Those figures describe the records entering Louisville, not results already achieved at this tournament.
Coachino Insight
Clubs can build a viewing session around a published start time while keeping pre-event milestones clearly separate from results that are still to come.
Maria Ford’s loud celebrations during her comeback win over Genie Bouchard at the PPA Tour Chicago Cup sparked renewed discussion about taunting and sportsmanship. Bouchard declined to tap paddles afterward, while Ford received no warning or penalty. Separate exchanges between Hayden Patriquin and Eric Oncins at the same tournament added to calls from some fans for clearer conduct rules.
Coachino Insight
The debate highlights the need for athletes, coaches and tournament officials to understand where intense celebration ends and sanctionable taunting begins under tour rules.
Luca Mack and Anouar Braham removed Armaan Bhatia and Augustus Ge from the Virginia Beach men’s doubles draw on October 15, winning 12–10, 11–5 to reach the quarterfinals. Their next opponents were Elliott Schupp and Jaume Martinez Vich.
Wyatt Stone and Will MacKinnon also advanced after a sharp reversal against Roscoe Bellamy and Matt Wright. Having lost the opener, they won 5–11, 11–0, 11–4. The official player records support both results in the dated round-of-16 report.
Coachino Insight
The two results provide different review material: closing after a tight opener and rebuilding after a lost game both deserve practice in doubles sessions.
