Singapore to host biggest pickleball event yet at PPA Asia 500 Open

Singapore will host its biggest pickleball event yet when the PPA Asia 500 Leapmotor Singapore Open runs from July 23-26 at The Sports Arina @ Expo. The tournament carries US$70,000 in prize money and 500 PPA ranking points, the clearest sign so far that Singapore has moved from fast-growing market to serious stop on the Asian pro circuit.

That jump matters because this is not a one-off exhibition. The draw includes men’s and women’s singles and doubles, plus mixed doubles, with professionals and amateurs sharing the same event space. Registration closed with 653 players entered, a strong sign that the debut Singapore stop was not short on demand. The event is organized by Kin Productions and presented by Leapmotor, while the PPA Tour Asia event page lists prize-money distribution across singles and doubles.

Jimmy Liong’s view of Singapore fits the scale of the moment. The Malaysian standout has said the city could eventually host even higher-tier PPA Asia 1000 events, a forecast that makes more sense now that the 500-level tournament is locked in. Singapore is no longer just another emerging pickleball market in Southeast Asia. It is building the kind of venue, sponsor profile and player depth that can anchor a regional calendar.

The Singapore Open will be the sixth stop on a 10-stop 2026 PPA Tour Asia schedule spread across seven Asian markets. That tour begins in Hanoi, passes through Kuala Lumpur, Macao, China, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam again, then finishes with the Hong Kong Slam, which is being billed as the richest professional pickleball tournament ever staged in Asia with up to US$1.1 million in prize money. In that context, Singapore’s 500-level debut is not an isolated upgrade. It is part of a broader push to make Asia a multi-city professional circuit instead of a handful of scattered events.

Singapore already had a lower rung on the ladder. PickleSlam 2026, a PPA Asia 125 event, ran from April 11-19 at Novotel Singapore Stevens and gave local players a pathway into the higher tier. The July Open now moves that pathway onto a larger stage, with elite points, a bigger purse and enough entries to show the market can support the next step.