Malaysia grows as Asia pickleball hub with coaching tour expansion
Collin Johns’ 35 PPA doubles titles now anchor Malaysia’s push from tournament host to APAC coaching base.
Collin Johns has moved from winning gold in Kuala Lumpur to helping build the next layer of Asian pickleball. The 35-time PPA men’s doubles champion is now serving as Global Technical Director for the RacketPro APAC Pickleball Tour 2026, a coaching-led expansion that has already passed through Malaysia and is heading into Vietnam, Japan and Singapore.
That matters because Malaysia is being treated as more than a stop on the calendar. RPO APAC managing director Connor Nguyen said the country has a fantastic following for the sport and first-class facilities, and the Malaysia leg was built as a nationwide five-stop workshop series focused on coaching standards, certification pathways and community development. That is a different business from filling brackets for a weekend. It is the start of a technical base.
The competitive backdrop gives the move weight. The Panas Kuala Lumpur Open ran May 12-16 as a PPA Asia 500 with US$50,000 in prize money and 500 ranking points, and Johns paired with Len Yang to win pro men’s doubles. When a player fresh off that kind of result steps into a technical leadership role, the message to local clubs and academies is simple: the same standards that win on court are now being built into the teaching structure off it.
The regional plan is not stopping at Malaysia’s borders. A four-week COEBRA training session in Vietnam is part of the wider APAC development push, and the tour spans Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and other Asian markets. That gives the project a clear path beyond one-off clinics. It is designed to create coaches, certify them, and move that knowledge through the region.
Malaysia’s 2026 calendar already shows the momentum. APP Malaysia said the Leapmotor APP Kuala Lumpur Open ran Feb. 9-14, and the APP Penang Open was the second APP Tour stop in Malaysia this year. With elite events, a structured coaching tour and Johns attached to the project, Malaysia is building a stronger case as a regional training hub, not just a venue that can host a good draw.
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