By Kelly Campbell
Back in 2025, we explored the governing bodies of international pickleball and how crucial a single unifying organization would be to get pickleball a spot in the Olympics.
A new potential milestone was announced for international pickleball last year: a merger agreement between the Global Pickleball Federation (GPF) and Unified World Pickleball Federation (UWPF). The UWPF is a unified organization developed from a previous merger between the World Pickleball Federation (WPF) and the International Pickleball Federation (IPF).
Pickleball is exploding across the globe in a way that feels very familiar to anyone who watched the U.S. boom unfold a few years ago, and a centralized governing body to oversee that growth will propel pickleball forward even more. More specifically, growth momentum is now clearly shifting east. Asia is emerging as the next major growth engine, with countries like India, Vietnam, and Malaysia leading the charge.
Keep reading for everything we know about the upcoming merger, and some exciting new developments in the pickleball world in Asian countries.
Everything We Know About the Merger:
Not all mergers have been pretty or cordial in the professional pickleball space (consider the rocky on-again-off-again United Pickleball [UPA] union), but we’re hoping for a smooth transition here.
According to their press release, the GPF and UWPF are celebrating their “formal commitment to collaborate to establish a single governing entity dedicated to the governance and global expansion of pickleball.”
The goal is to respond to the need for a unified, structured governance that guides pickleball’s rapid international growth. The new unified entity plans to be fully democratic and inclusive, and compliant with International Olympic Committee (IOC) standards.
Although no merger has been finalized yet, they’ve created a dedicated task force to oversee the transition, comprised of representatives from each organization. The task force will ensure that voices from each organization are fairly heard, and its inaugural meeting was held in November. The main players of the task force are Jen Ramamurthy, Ruth Rosenquist, and Chandler Carney (representing GPF), and Seymour Rifkind, Dr. Kelvin Yii, Rika Riordan, and Arvind Prabhoo (representing UWPF).
“When the IPF and WPF merged, that resulted in the election of a new board with new ideas. We [the GPF] reached out at that point and said, ‘is there interest in collaboration and to merge?’ From there, UWPF and GPF had casual conversations, which led to a seminal meeting on 11/8/25. At that meeting we asked each other basic questions; ‘Are we in alignment? Do we believe we need a single entity? Do we have the same goals?’ It was a no brainer; we’re all pointing in the right direction. At this point, both boards agreed to start discussions on a plan to merge.” – Ramamurthy via Forbes.
Members of the GPF and UWPF (the result of a merger of WPF and IPF) haven’t always had an amiable relationship. The WPF was founded in 2018, while the IPF was founded in 2016 (but was known then as the IFP). The GPF was founded in 2023 after disagreements arose over working with IPF. As GPF grew in power and popularity, the IPF and WPF merged in 2025 under the joint UWPF (for more on pickleball’s most powerful organizations, check out TrackitHub’s governing body cheat sheet). Now, the UWPF and GPF are working together to bring all of the best perspectives and relationships from each under one roof.
“Our aspirational goal is to be combined by the middle of next year. Our next steps will include setting a timeline, milestones, and creating legal agreements. We also have many that have two NGBs, which are each aligned with the two entities GPF or UWFP,” Ramamurthy told Forbes.
Once operating under a single international governance, we are likely to really see total worldwide dink domination.
International Development Implications
All efforts to centralize pickleball organizations have a common goal: to further grow and develop the sport. This merger is no different in that area, but it could be one of the most influential steps to date for overall pickleball development, particularly because of how much closer it brings us to pickleball’s Olympic moment.
The key point listed in the merger press release is the commitment to following IOC guidelines. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, we explored how close we were to seeing pickleball featured in the Olympics, which has been a dream for pickleballers for years. This merger brings us significantly closer to our desired outcome.
Outside of the Olympic prospect, the merger is a no-brainer for pickleball development in general. We’ve seen numerous attempts to invest in and centralize international pickleball development, because there’s a true need for it; the Global Pickleball Alliance, and major expansion efforts outside of the U.S. for the PPA and MLP are prime examples. The sooner we can get all national governing bodies on the same page across the globe, the sooner we can standardize professional play and open up the talent pool on a larger scale than ever before.
A unified structure would promote greater overall investment in the sport, enable coordinated international professional tournaments, and increase both the competition and stakes for world championships. This approach supports cohesive, rather than fragmented, pickleball growth and creates a sustainable worldwide sport structure. While different perspectives could pose challenging discussions during the merger, those differences ultimately add value and help shape a stronger, more cohesive future for pickleball worldwide.
Now that the US pickleball market is super saturated and strong, looking to international growth––especially in Asian countries where we’re now seeing some of the largest growth––is more important than ever.
Pulse Check on International Pickleball: Unprecedented Growth Throughout Asia
Pickleball is no longer an American phenomenon. While pickleball has steadily been growing the last few years across the globe, it has really taken off in Asia, with an expansion rate that matches or even surpasses the US pickleball boom.
The PPA has called Asia “the next frontier” for pickleball, highlighting that “1.9 billion people from 12 territories in Asia have heard about pickleball, and close to 812 million people have played the sport at least once, with 282 million playing at least once a month.”
In India alone, there are more than 178 million pickleball players. President of the Indian Pickleball Association, Suryaveer Singh Bhullar, says that pickleball is India’s fastest-growing sport, and predicts that it will be India’s second-largest sport overall.
Other leading countries include Malaysia, in which pickleball had a 132% growth rate, Vietnam, where over 37% of the population plays pickleball at least monthly, and China, where monthly online pickleball equipment sales surpassed $1.2 million in 2025. In Japan, pickleball is leading as a social sport, with urban indoor venues taking off across the country.
With such a huge pool of players and strong development throughout the continent, Asia is playing a major role in shaping the future of pickleball.
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