Hanoi’s Quang Duong Rejoins APP Tour, Touted as Asia’s No.1

Quang Duong, the 20-year-old Hanoi native widely described as Asia’s No.1 on DUPR, has signed a professional contract to rejoin the APP Tour, the league announced on March 3, 2026. APP posted the move on its Instagram account and the player appears on the APP site’s roster listing that references multi-year agreements for new signees.

APP’s Instagram post read, “Asia's top player, Quang Duong, has agreed to sign with the @OfficialAPPTour. Photo shared by APP TOUR on March 03, 2026 tagging @avatar_ball_bender.” The APP website, quoted in regional coverage, calls Duong “one of the most electric players in international pickleball,” and theapp Global lists him among several players in its multi-year agreements announcement, though the site does not specify Duong’s individual contract length or financial terms.

Pickleball News Asia framed the signing as a homecoming and noted that Duong “is officially no longer a free agent.” The outlet and regional coverage have highlighted Duong’s rapid rise: he broke through on the APP Tour in 2023 with a run to the APP Houston Open final, defeating Christopher Haworth and Jaume Martinez Vich en route to that final, before jumping to the PPA Tour late in 2023 and reaching as high as No. 6 in PPA Men’s Singles.

Duong’s résumé also includes a gold medal in Men’s Doubles at the Bristol Open in August 2024 alongside Christian Alshon, a result Pickleball News Asia cited when describing his ascent. After his time on the PPA Tour, Pickleball News Asia reports that Duong’s PPA career “ended abruptly” when his contract was terminated in early 2025 for contractual violations; The Dink’s reporting on the same episode attributes the termination to the UPA and quotes the organization as citing “multiple and repeated violations of the exclusivity terms of the agreement.”

Following that termination, The Dink documented that Duong played in an unsanctioned tournament in Vietnam over Memorial Day weekend 2025 and remained unsigned for the rest of 2025. The Dink also reported sightings of Duong and family members — father Duc and brother Bao — at the PPA Masters and noted that his signature Wika paddle “was even recently approved by the UPA-A,” details that have circulated alongside speculation about his next move.

APP’s roster listing places Duong among players tied to the tour’s multi-year agreements, but neither APP nor Duong’s camp has released contract specifics. Pickleball News Asia framed the signing as another flashpoint in APP’s battle with the PPA Tour for circuit prominence; with Duong back under APP’s banner and carrying the DUPR Asia No.1 label, the organization has added a youthful regional star whose exact role and schedule on the APP circuit will be clarified only when APP or Duong publish further contract details.