The Report
Vietnam’s Best Partnership Beat Ly Hoang Nam and Collin Johns
Ly Hoang Nam and Collin Johns entered the MB Ho Chi Minh City Open men’s doubles final as the partnership everybody wanted to watch.
One brought the status of Vietnam’s best-known pickleball player. The other brought years of experience alongside the most successful men’s doubles player of the professional era.
Hien Truong and Quan Do brought something different: an established partnership, a shared understanding of the conditions and the confidence to keep playing their own match after losing the opening game.
Their comeback victory mattered beyond the title. Vietnam’s leading players are no longer simply providing local opposition when the international tour arrives. Its best teams are capable of beating partnerships carrying some of the most recognisable names in the sport.
Read the full storyHarrison Brown Is Training for a Version of Australian Pickleball That Does Not Exist Yet
Harrison Brown is Australia’s leading men’s singles player. He also understands how far the domestic game still sits from the daily intensity of the American professional tour.
His answer is a 20-to-25-hour training week built around drilling, match play, mobility and explosive movement. The former University of Michigan tennis player is preparing with the seriousness of an athlete already living inside a mature professional system.
That makes his programme more than a personal blueprint. It shows what players outside North America may have to build for themselves while the competition, coaching and infrastructure around them catch up.
Inside Harrison Brown’s training blueprintMLP Dallas Had Four Sweeps. Everyone Left Talking About One Shout.
All four higher-seeded teams advanced from the opening round of the MLP playoffs. Dallas extended its winning run to 13 matches, Sofia Sewing completed a flawless weekend and Texas survived two DreamBreakers.
Yet the weekend became defined by the moment Zane Navratil struck Casey Diamond with a backhand counter and directed his celebration towards him. Dekel Bar called the behaviour “embarrassing and unhinged”. Navratil later apologised and accepted that he had exceeded the balance between emotion and respect.
MLP wants noise, rivalry and personality. Dallas showed why it must also decide where competitive theatre ends and personal hostility begins.
Read the MLP Dallas analysisThe English Open Has 60 Courts. Its Technological Future Will Be Tested on Two.
Stupa Sports has signed a three-year agreement to become Pickleball England’s Official Data and Technology Partner. Its first deployment begins this week on the two Championship Courts at the NEC.
Line-review technology, live match data, broadcast graphics, digital spectator screens and a second produced stream will all be placed under genuine competitive pressure during six days of play.
The limited scale is what makes the trial useful. By Sunday evening, Pickleball England should know whether the technology improves the tournament and whether the distance between those two courts and the other 58 is worth trying to close.
Why the two-court test mattersThis week may look a little different
I will be commentating at the English Open throughout the week, so the World Pickleball Report may be shorter on some mornings or arrive every other day.
Much will depend on the commentary schedule. All will become clearer once the tournament is under way, but we will continue to bring you the stories and developments that matter from Birmingham.
There will be plenty of video updates from the NEC. Follow @thepickleballcommentator and @worldpickleballmagazine on Instagram throughout the week.
The new-look WPM is out now
The August edition of World Pickleball Magazine introduces the new direction of WPM.
The daily website and World Pickleball Report remain focused on the news, tournaments and decisions shaping the sport. The monthly magazine now gets closer to the people, culture, behaviour and ideas around the game.
Read the August edition of WPM →Know someone following the English Open?
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