DUPR, the most widely used rating system in pickleball, has partnered with Vietnamese tournament operator Sport Connect JSC and is getting serious about building the competitive base in Asia. With the move, announced in early July, a 1-1 record built on courts in Hanoi can now be read on the same scale as numbers earned in Manila, Kuala Lumpur or Los Angeles. Asia has long had rival rankings sitting side by side, andmoves to merge two separate scales into onehave continued. Into that came a global standard, absorbing an emerging market along with its infrastructure. For Japan, an early-stage market of 330,000 players, this is not someone else's story. The order in which a world standard takes root in Asia is already playing out next door.
DUPR and Sport Connect join forces: what actually changes
DUPR is the de facto common rating used by USA Pickleball, the Global Pickleball Federation (GPF), the PPA and MLP; counting club-level play, tournaments around the world line players up with the same number. Sport Connect, for its part, is the central organization running tournaments in Vietnam with technology at its core. The partnership meshes DUPR's rating platform with Sport Connect's tournament infrastructure, connecting the competitive scene in Vietnam and across Asia to one numerical system.
Johnny Carmichael, DUPR's international director, said: "Players in Vietnam are showing talent and a competitive fire that is second to none in the region." The heat in this partnership comes from the fact that this is not abstract promotion: someone who has actually played there is speaking, with numbers behind him.
How DUPR, the global yardstick, actually works
DUPR stands for Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating. It uses a modified Elo rating and updates after every match. The distinctive part is that the number moves on how you played against expectations rather than on the win or loss itself. A side expected to win 11-3 that only wins 11-8 sees its rating fall, while a side expected to lose 11-5 that holds on to 11-8 sees it rise. There is no split by age or gender, singles and doubles are rated separately, and everyone is measured on a single scale from 2.000 to 8.000.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Official name | Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating |
| Calculation method | Modified Elo rating (rises and falls with the gap against expectation) |
| Rating range | 2.000 (beginner) to 8.000 (pro) |
| Category | Singles and doubles rated separately / no split by age or gender |
| Main organizations using it | USA Pickleball, GPF, PPA, MLP |
Because of that design, a score earned at any tournament in any country can be compared on the same footing. Vietnamese players can measure their own level against opponents in Asia and worldwide with the same indicator — that is the single aim of the partnership. DUPR is a shared measure of ability rather than an entry requirement for tournaments in itself, but being able to show your position in objective numbers counts for a lot.
なぜベトナムなのか、登録データと選手層の伸び
Behind DUPR's choice of Vietnam among emerging markets is the growth in its registration data. Vietnam ranks among the top countries in the world for DUPR registrations, with registered players up about 30% over the past 90 days and 184% across 2025. Continent-wide, Asia now stands second behind North America in DUPR registrations, with registrations up about 300% from 2024 to 2025. DUPR opened its first regional headquarters in Asia in Ho Chi Minh City in April 2026, and this partnership extends that groundwork.
The playing pool runs deep as well. Vietnam has five players in the top 10 of the DUPR Asia rankings, led by former tennis international Ly Hoang Nam. The 2015 Wimbledon boys' doubles champion switched to pickleball in 2025 and climbed to No. 1 in Asia and No. 20 in the world (DUPR 6,267). Players capable of competing with the world at the top emerging while the base broadens is the kind of growth you would expect from Vietnam, which has builta development league that lifts beginners to the national finals in a short timeas a nationwide project.
How people on the ground see it
Gather the reactions to the partnership and the shared numbers are described in practical terms: they lower the barrier to taking part.
- Carmichael — citing his own play in Hanoi and at the Manda Cons Open Cup, he rates Vietnam's competitive level as the best in the region
- DUPR — states plainly that a rating earned in Hanoi is equivalent to numbers from Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles. Comparing players across borders becomes a standard feature
- Vietnam's community — from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, players have long treated DUPR as a way to measure progress and connect with the world, and that ground is pushing the partnership forward
ベトナムは2026年8月30日から9月6日まで、ダナンでアジア初のPickleballワールドカップを開催する予定だ。世界標準のレーティングが国内に敷かれるタイミングと、世界大会のホスト国になるタイミングが重なった意味は大きい。
What it says about the scene in Japan
There are three points players and organizers in Japan can take from this partnership.
First,A world standard arrives bundled with tournament operationsis the order of things. DUPR did not hand out an app and stop there; it took root in Vietnam by teaming with a tournament operator and drawing in scores from official matches. In Japan, the International Pickleball Federation named DUPR its official rating in 2025 and the national governing body encourages registration, but whether ratings actually work depends on how many official matches are connected to DUPR. Numbers do not grow just because individuals install the app.
Second,Former racket-sport players form the top of emerging marketsis the second pattern. Vietnam's leading player came out of the national tennis team, and in JapanYuta Funamizu, from soft tennis, has climbed to No. 25 in DUPR men's doubles. A global rating lines players up on numbers alone, regardless of nationality or playing background, so for converts from other sports it is the quickest calling card for making their level visible. How Japan connects its dormant pool of former athletes to the sport is a question Vietnam's growth answers directly.
Third,Rating portability lowers the cost of travelling to competeis the third. If numbers from Hanoi read on the same scale as LA, then numbers Japanese players build at tournaments in Asia are judged on that scale too. Competitive records that tended to stay inside Japan can now be discussed in world terms. With Japanese players starting to produce results on the PPA Tour Asia, a shared rating is a tailwind.
DUPR trends in Asia at a glance
| Countries and regions | DUPR growth | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | About +30% over the past 90 days / +184% in 2025 | Among the world's top countries by registrations; home to the No. 1 player in Asia |
| Malaysia | About +59% over the past 90 days | Third in the world by registrations, behind the US and Canada |
| Asia (continent) | Registrations up about 300% from 2024 to 2025 | Second in the world behind North America, and the fastest-growing continent |
| Japan | Federations and associations encourage DUPR registration | An early-stage market of 330,000 players |
Summary — three things to watch next
The DUPR and Sport Connect partnership is an example of a world-standard rating taking in an emerging market together with its operating infrastructure. The line about Hanoi numbers reading the same as LA is the symbolic part, but behind it runs the patient work of feeding official match scores into a shared system. From here, people in Japan should follow three things. First, how many domestic official matches get connected to DUPR, and how many players see their ratings actually move. Second, how far Japanese players can go against Asian opponents at the Da Nang World Cup at the end of August. Third, how many converts from other sports turn up in the domestic rankings. The global yardstick starts moving the moment you get your own DUPR and add one score at your next official match.
