2026 China-ASEAN Pickleball Open kicks off in Guilin

China News Service, Guilin, October 31 (Huang Lingyan) On October 31, the 2026 "Li Ning Cup" China-ASEAN Pickleball Open kicked off at the Guilin International Convention and Exhibition Center in Guangxi. As an important part of the "Mountains and Seas Connected by Guiyun Alliance" China-ASEAN brand event, this Open brings together pickleball athletes from ASEAN countries and China to meet friends with the ball, compete with the racket, and build a platform for bilateral sports exchanges and people-to-people exchanges.

This event is co-sponsored by the Tennis Management Center of the State Sports General Administration, the Chinese Tennis Association, the Sports Bureau of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Foreign Affairs Office of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the Guilin Municipal People's Government. The event adopts a mixed team format, with five individual events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles. There are a total of 32 teams participating, including 5 teams from ASEAN countries.

The bonus system and reward scope of this event have been fully upgraded: the championship bonus has been increased to 45,000 yuan, and the reward ranking has been expanded from eighth to sixteenth. A total of six reward gradients have been set up to allow more teams to stand on the podium. According to the event organizing committee, during the event, there will also be Olympic champions, world champions and other sports stars on site to help out, interact with athletes and citizens, and ignite enthusiasm on the field.

The event will simultaneously launch the "Taste of Guilin" city exploration activity. Subsequently, athletes will be guided to Guilin's famous historical and cultural districts, climb the Elephant Trunk Mountain, the Pan-Li River, and swim in the Yulong River. They will immerse themselves in the unique charm of "Guilin's landscapes are the best in the world" and taste the customs of northern Guangxi in a bowl of Guilin rice noodles and a pot of Gongcheng Camellia oleifera. The event coincides with the 2026 Guilin Art Festival. Sports events and urban cultural and artistic activities empower each other, providing Chinese and foreign guests with an urban experience that blends sports and art.

Pickleball is an emerging national fitness project that combines the characteristics of tennis, badminton, and table tennis. It is very popular among people of all ages because it is easy to learn, fun and social. Since 2025, the Sports Bureau of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has explored the development model of pickleball with Guangxi characteristics through the organization of the Jianqiang Association, carried out graded training, promoted projects into institutions, campuses and communities, built a competition system, and built a number of new courts.

Guangxi will continue to give full play to its location advantages and open door role towards ASEAN, successfully organize various mass sports events for ASEAN, continue to consolidate the foundation of people-to-people exchanges between China and ASEAN, and write a more vivid sports chapter for China-ASEAN friendly cooperation.