Mongolia Makes History with First Ever PPA Tour Asia Medal with Silver at Hangzhou Open 2025
Mongolia—yes, Mongolia!—is quietly charting its own course in pickleball, and it is further proof of the sport’s global emergence. On Thursday, landlocked Mongolia even made pickleball history when it won its first-ever medal in the PPA Tour Asia by way of the Hangzhou Open 2025 in China.
That distinction belongs to Gantulga Zagdsuren, who teamed up with Chinese pickler Zhu Jian Guo and got all the way to the finals of the 35+ category (DUPR below 3.499) of the Hangzhou Open’s amateur division. Zagdsuren and Guo faced China’s Hao Sun and Bin Yuan but lost, 15-1.
It might not have been the ending Zagdsuren and Guo wanted, but it was enough to give Mongolia its first-ever medal in the PPA Tour Asia, albeit in the amateur division. Zagdsuren and Guo earned their ticket to the gold-medal match with wins over Zongjin Li/Huajie Ni in the quarterfinals, and Fred Yiu/Jason Ning in the semis.
Zagdsuren is a fixture in Mongolia’s steadily rising pickleball scene, as he is a member of the Mongolian Pickleball Association’s Board of Directors aside from being an active player.
With Zagdsuren’s silver medal, Mongolia has officially stamped its class in the global pickleball landscape.
