ピックルボールの実力評価システムDUPRの参加データで、過去1年に登録者を最も増やした10カ国が出そろった。伸び率は110%から1,200%に及び、上位は東・東南アジアが占めた。米国発の競技が、いま太平洋のこちら側で選手の裾野を広げている。
This is not someone else's story for players in Japan. Within the same region, Korea and Vietnam are rapidly adding rated players, while Japan's growth tends to be told through tournaments and facilities and rarely shows up in globally shared numbers. Here is how that gap connects to competitive strength.
1年で110～1,200%、DUPR登録を伸ばした10カ国はアジアに偏った
The DUPR data compiled by The Dink shows the 10 countries that added the most new users over the last 12 months. Growth ranges from 110% at the low end to 1,200% at the high end. A figure of 1,200% means the original user base multiplied 13 times in a year, which means some countries took off from a base close to zero. The Dink described the lineup as a sign that the next hub is not North America. The center of gravity is shifting from a mature North American market toward Asian markets still on the way up.
DUPR is an international yardstick that updates a player's rating from the result of every match. The more registered users a country has, the more its match results can be compared on a global standard. As in Vietnam, wherea win in Hanoi began to carry the same weight as a win in Los Angelesように、DUPRの普及は「その国のピックルボールが世界とつながった」合図になる。単なる愛好者の増加ではなく、レートを持つ競技者が増えている点が重い。
Korea leads on growth rate, Malaysia second, Vietnam third
According to The Dink's follow-up, Korea led on new-user growth, Malaysia was second and Vietnam third. On total registrations Malaysia has climbed to third in the world behind the United States and Canada, with Vietnam fourth. Malaysia has roughly 300 DUPR-registered clubs, and Kuala Lumpur ranks second among cities worldwide for registered users. One capital city has reached a density among the highest anywhere.
What the numbers show is that a lead group is forming within Asia. Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam are stacking up rated players in real terms, not just facilities. A picture with three Asian countries lined up behind North America was not visible a year ago. That all three rank high on both growth rate and total registrations can also be read as a sign that users are sticking rather than passing through on a boom.
Vietnam's development league and Malaysia's 300 clubs hold up the growth
There is design behind the surge. Vietnam set upa development league that carries beginners to a national final in nine months, giving newcomers an exit into official competition. Play a match and a DUPR rating follows. Guaranteeing chances to compete through a formal structure feeds straight into registration growth. Malaysia grew its grassroots clubs to nearly 300, putting places to play and people to play with in place first. What the fast-growing countries share is that they do not stop at building courts; they lay the path to competing at the same time. Registration numbers are the result, and the cause is a system that gets beginners to an official tournament.
Japan's growth shows in court counts, not in DUPR numbers
日本のピックルボールも拡大している。ただ語られ方が違う。伊豆稲取の20面や都心の会員制施設、企業リーグの新設など、話題の中心は施設とイベントだ。競技人口は増えているのに、勝敗を世界基準の数字へ変換して積み上げる動きは、近隣ほど速くない。この差は国際大会で表面化する。DUPRのレートは海外大会のシードやドロー分けの根拠に使われるため、実力があっても数字がなければ格上との対戦を早い段階で引き込みやすい。逆に、レートを持つ選手が国内に厚くいれば、遠征しなくても実力の近い相手と当たり続けられ、成長が速くなる。韓国やベトナムが1年で伸びたのは、この循環に早く入ったからだ。
In Yokohama,the UTR Tour, which turns an amateur's single match into a global yardstick,has started, and a culture of knowing where you stand by the numbers is taking root. What an individual can do arrives fast. Register with DUPR, enter the results of matches with your practice partners, and you hold numbers on the same scale as players in Korea or Vietnam. There is no need to wait for more facilities.
What players in Japan should do now, given the surge next door
Asia's map was redrawn in a year. Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam lead on the numbers while Japan follows on facilities. DUPR, though, asks nothing about nationality and costs nothing to join. Register today, log local match results, and Japan gains a vote in next year's data. The next move is not to add courts but to put your own match on the global scale.
- Create a DUPR account and enter results from practice matches, not only tournaments
- Enter official and semi-official events that carry a rating, such as the UTR Tour, and find out where you stand
- Follow tournament news from Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam, and use your DUPR to widen the options for competing abroad
