Hong Kong, Malaysia, PH Lead Asian Countries That Made It to Pickleball World Cup’s Round-of-32
Hong Kong certainly did Asia proud in the recently concluded 2025 Pickleball World Cup, coming out of nowhere to make it all the way to the Finals against the mighty Team USA.
Team Hong Kong ultimately bowed to the Americans, 4-0, in the Finals. Even so, they still gave a solid account of themselves on the grandest stage nonetheless, losing by scores of 21-15 in Women’s Doubles, 21-18 in Men’s Doubles, 21-17 in Mixed Doubles 1 and 21-15 in Mixed Doubles 2.
What’s more, the young Hongkongers beat some pickleball behemoths along the way, stunning New Zealand in the Quarter-finals, 4-2, and outlasting the Dominican Republic in the Semi-finals, 4-2, to book their Finals ticket. In the end, however, Team USA proved to be too much for the Cinderella squad of the 2025 Pickleball World Cup.
Malaysia, Philippines, and Others Enter Final 32
Joining Hong Kong in the Round of 32 were six other Asian countries: the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Chinese Taipei, Japan, and China.
Malaysia, of course, is among the hotbeds of pickleball in all of Asia, while the Philippines is slowly emerging as a burgeoning powerhouse in the region. Chinese Taipei, on the other hand, has quietly been one of the best pickleball nations on the continent, while Japan and China are starting to build momentum themselves.
Over the past week, these seven Asian countries showed out in Fort Lauderdale in arguably the biggest pickleball competition out there. The 2025 Pickleball World Cup gathered teams from 68 countries worldwide, and 7 of the final 32 delegations that had a chance at winning the overall title came from Asia. In fact, Asia had nearly as many countries in the Round of 32 as Europe (9 to 7), underscoring the immense growth of pickleball in the world’s largest continent.
Hong Kong, of course, got the farthest, getting to within one more win of the world title. The Philippines and Malaysia, meanwhile, both made it to the Round of 16, while Chinese Taipei, Japan, China, and India all lost in the Round of 32.
Overall, though, it was quite the showing for Asia at the 2025 Pickleball World Cup, and something tells us things are only going to get better.
