PPA Tour Asia names Facolos, Franklin, Paddletek official paddle partners for 2026

PPA Tour Asia is no longer treating equipment as a backdrop to the matches. By naming Facolos, Franklin and Paddletek as official paddle partners for the 2026 season, the tour made a clean statement: Asia is now a market worth fighting for, not just a stop on the way to somewhere else.

The timing matters. PPA Tour Asia announced the deal on March 13, 2026, and said all three brands were back for a second straight season after helping launch the circuit in 2025. That kind of continuity is a bigger deal than a standard sponsorship refresh. It means the tour is building a stable equipment identity while the schedule itself is still expanding, with ten stops across seven markets and a finish at the Hong Kong Slam, which PPA Tour Asia calls the biggest professional pickleball tournament ever staged in Asia with up to US$1.1 million in prize money.

Facolos is the most telling piece of the trio. The company was founded and developed by a Vietnamese team, and PPA Tour Asia says it is the only Asian brand to partner with the tour for two consecutive seasons. In a region where imported gear has often dominated the conversation, that gives the partnership a local anchor. It also signals that the tour does not want its commercial future built entirely on foreign brands. Facolos has already leaned into player-driven marketing, signing Gabriel Tardio on January 13, 2026 and positioning the world No. 2 in men’s doubles and No. 6 in mixed doubles as part of its push. It has also added Yufei Long and Sahra Dennehy to its wider strategy.

Franklin brings the heavyweight brand value. Its roster includes Anna Leigh Waters, Hayden Patriquin, Parris Todd and Malaysia’s Jimmy Liong, which gives the tour a direct link to some of the most recognizable names in the sport. Paddletek rounds out the group and helps give the partner list the kind of depth that suggests this is becoming a real category, not a one-off endorsement grab.

For fans, the practical effect should be visible on court. As tour partners, these brands are the paddles most likely to show up in pro bags, on practice courts and in the hands of players whose equipment choices matter to casual buyers. That matters in Asia because the region’s pro scene is still defining itself, and gear identity is becoming part of the product.

The schedule reinforces the point. The season opened with the MB Hanoi Cup in Hanoi from April 1-5, before heading to stops including Tokyo on July 1-4 with US$50,000 in prize money and 500 PPA ranking points, and Ho Chi Minh City on August 6-9 with US$70,000 and 500 points. The first PPA Tour Asia event, the Panas Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur in 2025, paid US$50,000. The climb from that launch point to a 2026 calendar capped by Hong Kong shows a tour moving fast from expansion to standardization, and the paddle partners are now part of that structure.