Meet the UPA Asia Trailblazers

Thedink Pickleball 1 day ago 19 views

The UPA Asia Trailblazers are some of the best up-and-coming pickleball players throughout Asia. The 11 players in the inaugural 2025 season hail from eight different Asian countries. The group has been training in Mesa, Arizona, for the past two months. They will continue to do so for one more month, before heading back to Asia.

What is UPA Asia

The formation of UPA Asia was announced on Monday, November 25, 2024.

Just like in the USA, UPA Asia has both PPA Asia and MLP Asia underneath it. This is UPA’s second foray into foreign countries, as PPA Australia and MLP Australia have existed for two years now.

UPA Asia is run by Managing Director, Kimberly Koh, the former Partnerships Director at World Table Tennis with 13 years of sports marketing experience in the region.

On May 7, 2025, UPA Asia announced the inaugural 2025 schedule of play.

Full 2025 Calendar

July 3-6 - Panas Kuala Lumpur Open
August 21-24 - Hong Kong Open
August 26-31 - Sansan Fukuoka Open
October 1-5 - China Slam
October 9-12 - Kuala Lumpur Cup

What is the UPA Asia Trailblazers Program

On February 1, 2025, UPA Asia announced the Trailblazers program.

The program is meant for Asia’s top pickleball players to gain access to world-class coaching in the United States, for an all-expenses paid trip for three months. The athletes compete in the USA, in both PPA and MLP related events, to further their skills.

“It’s been amazing. Seeing all the different play styles and understanding the game. The understanding of decision making and when to do this or that, is totally different at this level.The coaches share so much that we have never heard about. We have learned so many different drills to bring with us back to Asia.” - Jimmy Liong, UPA Asia Trailblazer

The goal is to send the athletes back to Asia to spearhead the growth of pickleball, but also bring back valuable coaching tips and lessons that others can learn from.

Who are the Trailblazers?

The inaugural 2025 Trailblazers class consists of 11 team members from eight different countries. There were over one hundred applicants between the ages of 17-29, and these were the athletes that were chosen for the program:

Ting Chieh "Jamie" Wei – F – Chinese Taipei – 25 – 5.745 DUPR
Eunggwon Kim – M – Korea – 25 – 5.688 DUPR
Yufei Long – F – China – 26 – 5.336 DUPR
Ken Tam – F – Vietnam – 21 – 5.258 DUPR
Marco Leung – M – Macau – 30 – 5.187 DUPR
Sophia Tran – F – Vietnam - 17 – 5.087 DUPR
Jimmy Liong – M – Malaysia – 23 – 5.067 DUPR
Mayu Ito – F – Japan – 25 – 4.788 DUPR
Mia Athilla – F – Malaysia – 20 – 4.788 DUPR
Chen-An Hsieh – M - Chinese Taipei – 27 – 4.746 DUPR
Ryan Ng – M – Singapore - 21 – 4.594 DUPR

Briones had Marco Leung and Yufei Long on his podcast recently:

Where are the Trailblazers Practicing

The Trailblazers have been training at the Arizona Athletic Grounds (AAG), in Mesa, Arizona, since the beginning of April 2025. This is one of the most iconic pickleball venues in the world, with many top professional tournaments being held here over the past five years.

The Trailblazers stay in apartments nearby, and have transportation provided to and from the facility.

Two fun facts about the players I got to interview, while on site:

Jimmy Liong loves 'Shake Shack' - he has to have it at least once every three days
When asked how she learned English, 17-year-old Sophia Tran answered, "I watch too many movies. My favorite movie is called 'Sucker Punch'"

Who is coaching the Trailblazers

The head coach of the Trailblazers program is Jordan Briones. Briones is known as one of the best educational YouTubers in the game of pickleball.

Briones also coaches pros in the AZ area and has a robust in-person training program for advanced players.

"It has been very rewarding seeing the growth of these players in just the two months since we have had them. I coach a lot of different level players, but I have never had a group quite like this consistently for 90 days. I've learned a lot already from them. I've seen a ton of improvement. These players are the top players from their countries. At this point, the skill is all there, it is just refining tactics and get their mindset ready to play at the highest level possible." - Jordan Briones, Head Coach of the Trailblazers

Along with Briones, Caden Nemoff, and Greg Dow (both UPA signed players and top level pros) have helped coach the Trailblazers.

What does training look like

The Trailblazers are working hard. Upon arrival, they have been training pickleball around four hours per day, six days a week. They are also working out in the AAG gym 3-4 days per week.

Briones has a training curriculum that has had to change over the course of the two months, due to weather, tournaments, etc. Individualizing training for players, while maintaining a cohesive schedule for the team, has been Briones' top priority.

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The Trailblazers and Competition

Just days after landing in the US, some of the Trailblazers competed in the second ever PPA Challenger Series event in Baton Rouge, LA, which was held April 4-6.

The early results were promising, with four medals earned. Yufei Long earned gold in pro women’s singles, earned bronze in pro women’s doubles with Ken Tam, and bronze in mixed doubles with Marco Leung.

Next up, from May 12-18, the PPA Atlanta Slam took place. The Trailblazers all competed at the 5.0 level and again earned some more medals.

Ken Tam won gold in women’s singles 5.0
Jimmy Liong won bronze in men’s singles 5.0
Yufei Long and Eunggwon Kim won gold in mixed doubles 5.0
Sophia Tran and Liong won bronze in mixed doubles 5.0

In addition to their successes at the 5.0 level, multiple Trailblazers made it out of pro qualifying into the main draw of a PPA Slam for the first time. Ting Chieh “Jamie” Wei and Yufei Long made it into the Rd of 32 in women’s doubles.

What’s Next for the Trailblazers?

The Major League Pickleball (MLP) Phoenix event is taking place this weekend at the Arizona Athletic Grounds. Along with the MLP event, there is an amateur event at the Phoenix Classic being held at the same time.

The Trailblazers will be competing in the 4.5+ divisions (highest level at this tournament), along with the $1,000 Moneyball competition.

After that, there are two more weeks of training, before traveling to San Clemente, California. The PPA is hosting the Select Medical Orange County Cup, where the Trailblazers will again be playing in both the 5.0 and pro qualifier divisions.

From San Clemente, the Trailblazers will head back home to Asia. The Orange County Cup is from June 16-22, and the first UPA Asia event is in Kuala Lumpur starting July 3rd.

Source: Thedink Pickleball

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