Foshan to host Asia’s largest pickleball tournament with record prize pool

Foshan is preparing to put a hard number on Asia’s pickleball ambitions: a record 2.29 million yuan, or $336,731, prize pool attached to a tournament field of 1,200 players from around the world. With two finals scheduled across June and July, the event is being framed as more than a major stop on the calendar. It is a bid to make China, and by extension Asia, the sport’s next financial and competitive hub.

That matters because pickleball’s growth in the region is no longer a niche story. A 2025 UPA Asia and YouGov Singapore survey found that 1.9 billion people across Asia have heard of the sport, 812 million have played it at least once, and 282 million play at least monthly. The survey drew responses from more than 14,000 participants across 12 Asian markets, a scale that helps explain why tournament organizers and commercial partners are now treating Asia as essential territory rather than a developing side market.

China sits at the center of that expansion. UPA Asia said the survey points to 60 million monthly players in China alone, a figure that underlines why Foshan’s event carries regional weight. For sponsors, the appeal is obvious: a massive audience, a deep racket-sport culture and a market large enough to support not just one showcase tournament, but a repeatable circuit with real prize money and visible pathways.

That pathway is already taking shape. PPA Tour Asia’s official rankings, updated on May 22, 2026, show the professional structure operating in the region across men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. In practical terms, that means players can now point to a ladder, not just a one-off trophy chase, and host cities can compete for the kind of events that build local tourism, media attention and long-term sports business.

The broader market signals are just as strong. The Straits Times reported Bonafide Research forecasts Asia-Pacific pickleball market growth at a compound annual rate above 24.5% from 2024 to 2029. Against that backdrop, Foshan’s tournament looks less like a standalone festival and more like a test case for whether the region can keep elite talent circulating close to home, rather than sending its best players to the United States for the biggest paydays.

UPA Asia managing director Kimberly Koh has argued that Asia’s population size and strong affinity for racket sports make it a natural expansion market. Foshan’s record purse suggests the business side is finally acting on that logic. If the event delivers the crowds, sponsorship and competitive depth expected of it, it could become one of the clearest signs yet that the sport’s next power shift is already underway.