Da Nang sets pickleball crowd record with 7,906 fans at PPA Asia event

A crowd of 7,906 turned Tien Son Sports Center in Da Nang into pickleball’s loudest stage yet in Asia, setting a Guinness World Records mark on the final day of the PPA Tour Asia MB Vietnam Cup 2025. The number matters beyond the trophy presentation: it forced the sport into a new public scale, one that promoters, sponsors and city officials can no longer treat as niche.

Guinness World Records certified the attendance at 7,906 on October 4, 2025, naming America & Asia Connect Company, the Danang Pickleball Federation and FPT Play as the record holders. PPA Tour Asia said the crowd was 43 percent larger than the previous world record of 5,522, a jump that gives Asia its clearest proof yet that pickleball can deliver a live-event audience large enough to justify bigger venues, stronger ticketing models and more aggressive broadcast packaging. The tournament also carried real sporting weight, with US$150,000 in prize money and 1,500 ranking points on offer.

The setting in Da Nang was built for that kind of finish. The MB Vietnam Cup ran from September 30 to October 4, and opening night already drew nearly 600 professional athletes and thousands of spectators before the record crowd arrived on Championship Saturday. Nearly 600 players from Vietnam and abroad competed, giving the event a depth that separated it from exhibition-style stops and turned the final day into a true championship peak rather than a novelty draw.

On court, the headline result belonged to USA siblings Alix Truong and Jonathan Truong, who won mixed doubles gold over Chao Yi Wang and Tyson McGuffin. The Truongs had already shown they were central to the bracket when they beat Albie Huang and Phuc Huynh in the round of 16 on October 1, and that run helped give the home crowd a recognizable story line to rally around. PPA Tour Asia said adjudicator Austin Johnson made the official record announcement during the closing ceremony, underscoring how deliberate the milestone was from start to finish.

The attendance figure was not entirely uniform across local coverage, with Tuoi Tre citing 7,916 spectators, but Guinness and PPA Tour Asia both listed 7,906 as the official mark. Even with that minor discrepancy, Da Nang delivered the clearest business and cultural signal yet for Asian pickleball: a Vietnamese venue, a championship final, a global record, and a crowd size that now sets the benchmark other markets will try to chase.