Ben Johns to Malaysia Cup 2025 Is Official, But Will He Make the Tourney Better?

It’s apparently official: Ben Johns is coming to Asia in the Malaysia Cup 2025.

Is it a big deal? Yes, of course. Ben is the GOAT of pickleball. He’s the most dominant athlete in the sport for crying out loud! He’s won 156 gold medals to date, once won 108 matches in a row, and is the no. 1 player in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles. Just GOAT things, again.

Now, he’ll be taking his talents to the Malaysia Cup 2025, where he will be the featured name in a tournament that’s sure to attract the world’s best talent in pickleball. This will be the first time Ben will compete outside the US, and yes, it promises to be a treat. That the Malaysia Cup 2025 will be the PPA Tour Asia’s very first Cup is just the cherry on top of the proverbial sundae—a milestone for professional pickleball in the region. With USD $500,000 in prize money and player payouts, it’s set to be the biggest pickleball tournament ever in Asia.

And Ben Johns, the GOAT of pickleball, will be among the players.

Aside from Star Power, What Difference Will Ben Johns Make?

Ben Johns coming over and actually playing in the Malaysia Cup 2025 takes care of the tournament’s star power needs a gazillion times. After all, it’s not every day the GOAT of any sport descends upon an Asian country to actually compete. So, that’s that. Yahoo!

But aside from bringing in some serious star power, what else will Ben Johns bring to the Malaysia Cup 2025? Will his presence fix the problems that plagued the first time the PPA Tour Asia organised a competition—the Panas Malaysia Open 2025—in Malaysia? Pickleball News Asia’s Group Publisher and avid pickleball player Andrew Martin articulated these problems in great detail, and they are quite serious and concerning, particularly the breakdowns in communication, the apparent lack of player welfare mechanisms, and that stinky feeling that the tournament was but a money grab of sorts.

These are all very serious issues that need fixing, and no amount of star power can do that unless the organisers actually endeavour to put out a good product for Asia’s enthusiastic picklers. In other words, Ben Johns being there in September won’t automatically make the Malaysia Cup 2025 better than the Panas Malaysia Open 2025.

Put simply, the organisers of the upcoming Malaysia Cup 2025 have their work cut out for them. Asia’s picklers will no doubt be gratified and grateful at seeing Ben Johns, pickleball GOAT, in action up close and personal. But they will be beyond thankful if PPA Tour Asia can hold a truly world-class, top-tier, and highly organised tournament this time around.

But sure, bring Ben Johns out. Asia’s best would love a crack at him for sure.