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Shenzhen delivered. From December 3–7, the PCL Asia Season 2 Grand Finals gathered 28 club teams from Thailand, Indonesia, India, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and across China for a high-tempo finish to the season. After round robins, single-elimination gauntlets, and a Grand Final that went all the way to a Dreambreaker, Team Zhuhai lifted the trophy and the thirty-thousand-dollar ($30,000) champion’s check.
The Builders Behind Asia’s Boom
The week doubled as a competitive climax and a regional summit. In attendance were Steve Kuhn (founder of Major League Pickleball, DUPR, and now PCL Asia), Shani Raviv (CEO and co-founder, SportsPredict), Jan Papi (founder and CEO, World Pickleball Championship Global), Michael Ma (co-founder, Ramsports), Alex Yuen (president, PCL Asia; co-founder, Ramsports), plus Toby Claudio and Migo Claudio of Toby’s Sports and PCL Philippines. Ramsports ambassadors and pros—including Rob Nunnery, Thomas Yu, Nicola Schoeman, Yu-chieh Hsieh, and creator-player Ahfatt (pickle.fatt)—added star wattage, capped by exhibition matches on Finals day.
Five Days in Shenzhen: A Quick Recap
Day 1 (December 3): Teams arrived, dialed in during practice, and gathered for a welcome dinner that set a friendly yet focused tone.
Day 2 (December 4): A Shenzhen city tour showcased the host’s energy and scale. Players and officials mixed with PCL Asia founder Steve Kuhn, SportsPredict’s Shani Raviv, WPC’s Jan Papi, and Tantan—community building before the pressure rose.
Days 3–4 (December 5–6): Round robins flowed into single-elimination play. A headline from the early rounds: Bali Pickleball Club stunned the Philippines’ Team SO Chill in a 3–2 Dreambreaker, reshaping the bracket.
Day 5 (December 7): Quarters, semis, exhibitions, then the title match—wall-to-wall action and no margin for error.
The Knockout Picture
Eight teams punched quarterfinal tickets—Pickleyard PH, Team Thakare (India), Team Mahi Kohi (Japan), Bali Pickleball Club, and four China teams including Shenyang and Zhuhai. From there, Shenyang ended Bali’s giant-killing run in one semifinal while Zhuhai edged Pickleyard PH in the other, setting an all-China final. The championship was the crescendo the event deserved: Zhuhai vs. Shenyang went the distance and was decided in a Dreambreaker, a fitting finale for a week built on depth, resilience, and clutch timing.
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Final Standings & Prize Purse
- Champion – Team Zhuhai: $30,000
- Runner-Up – Team Shenyang: $20,000
- Third – Team Pickleyard PH: $11,000
- Fourth – Team Bali Pickleball Club: $11,000
- Fifth to Eighth – Team Thakare (India) to Team Mahi Kohi (Japan): $6,000 each
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Why PCL Asia Season 2 Felt Like a Breakthrough
Regional reach. Clubs from seven countries shared courts with top Chinese squads, proving parity is rising and travel rivalries are real.
Leadership in the room. With Kuhn, Raviv, Papi, and Ramsports leaders Michael Ma and Alex Yuen onsite, conversations around formats, data, and pathways moved from theory to action.
Event design. A balanced program—welcome dinner, city tour, dense competitive slate, and Finals-day exhibitions—kept athletes engaged and fans entertained without diluting the main competition.
Digital experience. Sports We Play powered live scoring and match schedules via its app/website, while Stupa Sports delivered live coverage with streams available on YouTube and Facebook—extending the Grand Finals to fans across Asia.
What’s Next
Season 2’s success sets up a bigger Stage 3: deeper benches, more nations, and more clubs capable of podium runs. Expect organizers and partners to double down on player pathways, smarter scheduling that intensifies cross-border storylines, and fan experiences that make team formats easy to follow—and hard to turn off.
Congratulations to Team Zhuhai—worthy champions after five fierce days and a Dreambreaker final—and applause for Shenyang, Pickleyard PH, Bali, Team Mahi Kohi and all quarterfinalists who made the bracket sizzle. If this was the bar, Asia’s pickleball boom is ready to clear the next height.
