What’s the Score?
Hangzhou, China – The PPA Tour Asia is set to conclude its 2025 season with the highly anticipated Hangzhou Open from December 3–6, featuring a loaded lineup headlined by world-class talent. The tournament will host the 2025 Jenius Bank Pickleball World Championships winner, Federico Staksrud, and the tour’s maiden Triple Crown winner, Connor Garnett. With China’s top-ranked Women’s Singles player, Yufei Long, competing on home turf, and a women’s doubles partnership designed to “terrify” the field, the event promises to be a blockbuster curtain closer.
Hit it deeper!
The Hangzhou Open is the final stop on the 2025 PPA Tour Asia calendar. The men’s side is instantly bolstered by the arrival of Federico Staksrud, the reigning PPA Tour No. 1 singles player, fresh off his victory at the World Championships. Staksrud is ambitiously seeking gold in three events: Men’s Singles, Mixed Doubles with Alix Truong (who recently won the MB Vietnam Cup title), and Men’s Doubles with Armaan Bhatia.
The competition for Staksrud will be fierce, notably from Connor Garnett, who returns to Asia aiming to maintain his perfect record on the continent after going undefeated at the Sansan Fukuoka Open. Garnett is partnered with UPA Asia Trailblazer Ting Chieh Wei in Mixed Doubles and Blaine Hovenier in Men’s Doubles. Beyond these top seeds, the Men’s Singles draw is considered “loaded,” featuring key Asian talents such as Phuc Huynh, Hong Kit Wong, Blaine Hovenier, and Giang Trinh, guaranteeing that no player will have an easy path to the podium.
The Women’s events feature equally exciting storylines. Yufei Long, China’s top-ranked Women’s Singles star on the PPA Asia rankings, will enjoy the significant advantage of a hometown crowd as she competes across all three events (Singles, Mixed Doubles with Blaine Hovenier, and Women’s Doubles with Sahra Dennehy). The Women’s Doubles field will see the formidable pairing of Chao Yi Wang and Alix Truong. Truong and Wang have both recently tasted Asian gold; Truong won the MB Vietnam Open, while Wang achieved back-to-back titles at the Vietnam and Malaysia Cups. Their combination is described as the “heavy favourites” and is expected to “terrify everyone else in the draw”.
Blaine Hovenier will make his Asia debut, competing in both Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles, adding another layer of international competition to the already deep brackets. The presence of players who have dominated the regional tour (like Garnett and Wang) alongside global top talent (like Staksrud) guarantees a high-stakes, competitive conclusion to the 2025 season.
The World Pickleball Verdict
The Hangzhou Open serves as a perfect capstone for the PPA Tour Asia’s season, showcasing the tour’s successful integration of global pickleball stars with rapidly emerging Asian talent. By attracting reigning world champions like Staksrud and building compelling homegrown narratives around players like Long, the event successfully elevates the prestige and competitiveness of the Asian circuit. The formation of the ‘terrifying’ Wang/Truong women’s doubles team suggests that winning partnerships are becoming crucial for dominance, confirming that Asia is developing its own distinct, high-caliber rivalries and teams capable of challenging globally.
Chris Beaumont
Founder and Editor-in-ChiefChris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at…
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