The "Gold Cup" Shanghai station of the first China Tennis Association Pickleball Community Games concluded recently, merging two racquet sports within the city's fitness scene.
The tournament distinguished itself through a unique “dual-racket” format requiring participants to compete in both pickleball and tennis within a single match. According to the event rules, participants begin by playing pickleball using a service-scoring system; once a player or team reaches 11 points, they immediately transition to the tennis court.
The tennis segment continues the cumulative score from the pickleball phase, utilizing a “race to 10” format. The match concludes when a player or team reaches a total of 21 points, with 21 serving as the cap. This structure forces athletes to balance the technical demands of pickleball—such as net-front touch and rapid reaction—with the power and baseline consistency required for tennis.
The event featured five categories in the open division: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. Alongside the main tournament, organizers hosted a “one-point victory” single-elimination event featuring 64 slots.
The “one-point” competition included a specific provision for gender-mixed matchups: if a female player serves, she is granted two service attempts, while male players are restricted to one.
In the main competition, Retallick Liuhui claimed the men’s singles title. The men’s doubles title was secured by the pair of Zhao Yicheng and Yu Liguang, while Xie Li and Xu Jun won the mixed doubles event. The “one-point” specialty titles went to Hu Changqi in pickleball and Wei Ming in tennis.
The tournament was held at the newly completed Putuo Tennis Center, which officials intend to serve as a long-term venue for both sports. The event was organized under the “Yuezhan Putuo” banner, which began in 2017 as Shanghai’s first district-level fitness brand and has since expanded to include road running, water sports, and winter sports.
Concurrently, the tournament capitalized on the high level of public interest generated by the recent China tennis season.
The Shanghai stop is part of a broader expansion of the China Tennis Association’s pickleball initiatives. Similar community-based tournaments have been initiated in locations including Changping and Ganzhou.
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