Hong Kong has no shortage of pickleball. What it needed, a couple of years ago, was a way to tie it all together. The Hong Kong Pickleball League (HKPL) was created to do just that, and less than two years after its launch, it is already in its fourth season.
From a January Start-Up to Season 4
The league’s company, Hong Kong Pickleball League Limited, was incorporated on 3 January 2025. Season 1 followed soon after, running from mid-February to mid-April 2025. Bay Pickle took the Division A title, while STACKD won Division B.
Three of the names at the heart of the project: co-founders Joon Siu, the league’s chairman, and Eric Poon, its treasurer, who have spoken publicly about why they started the league and what they hope it will do for the sport in Hong Kong. The league’s honorary chairmen are Steve Kuhn, founder of Major League Pickleball and DUPR and a board member of the World Pickleball Federation, and Mike Johnson, co-founder of the Global Pickleball Federation and chairman of the Philippine Pickleball Federation.
Season 4 is now ongoing, with the group stage unfurling on 5 October 2026. The playoffs will start on 4 January 2027.
A League for Every Level
The structure is simple, and it’s the main reason the league works for so many different players. HKPL runs four divisions:
- Division A (Premier): Open, with no rating limit. It’s the top tier for the city’s strongest amateur players, with the best teams going head-to-head every week.
- Division B (Intermediate): For players rated 3.0 to 3.699 on DUPR. This is the competitive core of the league, a step up from casual play with real stakes.
- Division C (Developing): For players rated 2.999 or below, and the only division open to unrated (NR) players. It’s friendly and team-based, designed to help newer players build confidence and climb as their ratings grow.
- Masters: A dedicated division for players aged 50 and over, with the same format played among peers.
The league is built around team play, which sets it apart from the usual tournament circuit. Instead of entering as individuals, players represent a club or team over a full season.
How a Season Works
Season 4 of the Hong Kong Pickleball League followed a clear calendar. Team registration closed on 18 September, the match schedule was released on 21 September and locked on 25 September, and player registration closed on the same day. DUPR ratings were frozen with a cut-off date of 31 July 2026, which is what determines which division a player can enter.
The eligibility rules are straightforward, too:
- Any registered club, association or team with court access in Hong Kong can apply.
- A club can enter more than one team, as long as each has a unique name (for example, Team A1, Team B1 and Team B2).
- All communication goes through team captains and club or team managers.
- Players can only be registered through the official roster form submitted via the league’s digital portal. Additions by WhatsApp or email aren’t accepted.
What the Hong Kong Pickleball League Is Aiming For
The Hong Kong Pickleball League’s mission statement is ambitious. The league describes itself as dedicated to unifying Hong Kong’s pickleball ecosystem by building an inclusive community, encouraging collaboration among local clubs and building lasting camaraderie among players. By providing structured, competitive team play, it aims to raise playing standards, increase the sport’s visibility and make Hong Kong the premier pickleball hub of Asia.
The league sums all that up in five pillars: inclusivity, unity, building community, elevating playing standards and positioning Hong Kong as an Asia pickleball hub.
Why It Matters Now
The timing is good. Hong Kong has just hosted the Hang Seng Bank Hong Kong Slam, the first PPA Asia 1500 event, and Bay Pickle, HKPL’s Season 1 Division A champion, has since teamed up with Sino Group to launch a youth programme and the city’s first indoor Bay Pickle Academy. A league that gives the city’s clubs a regular, structured stage fits neatly into that picture.
Whether HKPL can turn Hong Kong into Asia’s pickleball hub is a bigger question. But for the clubs and players filling its four divisions every week, it has already made the sport more organised, and more fun to play.
