Malaysia - Monkeys🙈, Memories✨, & PICKLE🥒!

I started my journey around the world in Shanghai for a JOOLA Buyer’s Summit. There is definitely an excitement about pickleball in China, but it’s in the early stages. The attendees were asked some multiple-choice trivia questions, and got some of them hilariously wrong, which I don’t think would have happened in other parts of the world. In example, the crowd was asked which type of vehicle describes Tyson’s forehand (Tesla, Lamborghini, Ferrari, or Porsche), and someone, with full confidence, raised their hand to answer, and said “TESLA”! The next person also answered incorrectly. It was so funny.

If the same questions had been posed in Malaysia, I am sure that the percentage of correct answers would have been far higher. Malaysians are bought into pickleball. We had a super busy day on Wednesday with PPA Tour Asia doing content (I’m sure you’ve seen some of the photos!), sneaking in some practice, interacting with fans, and even had a full-on press conference and exhibition. Don’t worry, I’m currently editing a day-in-the-life post and you guys will get an inside look!

I’ve had some really rich cultural experiences already- I have tried a lot of local food (I am a fan!), saw the twin towers, and today I even ventured by myself to the Batu Caves, which was an AMAZING, 12/10 experience. It was one of those things you have to see to believe. The temple was breathtaking and it’s insane that such things exist naturally in our world. The highlight though, was feeding monkeys. I even got snarled at when I tried to pet one (this was foolish, I know, but in my head I am Snow White).

I definitely want to try more local food, and I also want to try durian. If you aren’t aware, it’s banned in a lot of places for how bad it smells, but a lot of people love it. I imagine I will not, but I won’t know unless I try! Another highlight has been the fresh coconut water right out of coconuts that are chopped right in front of you!

Play is currently wrapping up as I am writing this, but already there have been upsets and cause for concern for the American pros. The level here is no-joke, and we are definitely the hunted.

In singles, Grayson Goldin fell to Marco Leung, leaving Christian as the only remaining American in the draw (Ben, Zane, Armaan, and Tyson are all not playing). In women’s singles, Hannah Blatt and Liz Truluck both lost and Kaitlyn Christian and Zoey Wang both didn’t cruise in the R16 matches. Gender doubles was largely chalk, but Ben and Christian had a hell of a scare and nearly lost. They were down 8-7 in the third, and honestly should have been down 9-7.

Mixed doubles is always competitive early, and today was no different. A lot of the matches went to 3 games, and at time of writing the Truong siblings are still playing (they’re playing Callan! How funny is that!) Ben and I had a very tough first round that I was quite nervous about, but we played well against Eric Oncins and Dani-elle Townsend. The fact they had to qualify makes no sense to me. I play Dani-elle in women’s tomorrow and it should be a good match. I have watched a lot of her and her partner, and will be watching more tonight. No one can say I don’t do my homework!

The ball we are playing with is quite soft, and it’s also quite muggy. I also think this is kind of a situation in which our opponents are playing with perfect information and our information is limited. They can watch hours upon hours of us playing, but it’s hard to find footage of a lot of them. A welcome challenge. I can’t even imagine what would have happened had Ben/Christian lost. I was literally uncomfortable watching the end of the match. I would have been happy for their opponents (can you imagine a better statement win?!), but I’m very happen Ben/Christian pulled through.

That’s all for this edition folks! If I had more to write about re Sacramento, I would, but play won’t be starting until I am fast asleep. Make sure to tune into that though! I am really excited to follow it, as is everyone in Asia. NML wrote a great piece on the event’s biggest questions if you’re curious!

Lastly, I want to say thank you to everyone who applied to my silly little EA posting. You guys continue to humble me. I will be sending out emails to everyone who applied soon, you guys are literally the BEST❤️❤️❤️. So blessed to have so many people who want to help me TAKE OVER! Anywho, that’s all, make sure to share the newsletter with your friends😊, and I will see everyone on Monday!