MLP Asia release – The 2026 rosters are set.
MLP Asia’s inaugural International Draft is complete. Eighteen picks across three rounds, decided by a live auction that put the order up for sale in every round. Combined with the Domestic Draft picks confirmed earlier this month, all six teams now carry a full six-player roster into Season 1.
Here is every pick, every roster, and the mechanics behind the draft.
MLP ASIA 2026 INTERNATIONAL DRAFT ORDER
Picks are numbered 1 through 18 in the order they were made. Within each round, selection order was decided by the auction, with the highest bidder choosing first.
ROUND ONE
1. Tama Shimabukuro (Viet Panthers)
2. Eunggwon Kim (Malayan Stripes)
3. Armaan Bhatia (Hong Kong Cannons)
4. Seina Shima (Manila Helios)
5. Nasa Hatakeyama (Team Tokyo)
6. Grayson Goldin (Dragon Warriors)
ROUND TWO
7. Chao Yi Wang (Hong Kong Cannons)
8. Kaitlyn Christian (Viet Panthers)
9. Xiao Yi Wang-Beckvall (Malayan Stripes)
10. Jamie Wei (Dragon Warriors)
11. Mihae Kwon (Team Tokyo)
12. Muhammad Aiman (Manila Helios)
ROUND THREE
13. Daniel Moore (Team Tokyo)
14. Luc Pham (Dragon Warriors)
15. Mayu Ito (Manila Helios)
16. Ho Tam (Viet Panthers)
17. Kei Sawaki (Hong Kong Cannons)
18. Lacy Schneeman (Malayan Stripes)
MLP ASIA 2026 FULL ROSTERS
Six players per team. Three domestic selections, three international selections, and a designated captain leading each side.
DRAGON WARRIORS
Lingwei Kong (c)
Anni Xie
Longsheng Liu
Grayson Goldin
Jamie Wei
Luc Pham
HONG KONG CANNONS
Hong Kit Wong (c)
Nok Yiu Tang
Marco Leung
Armaan Bhatia
Chao Yi Wang
Kei Sawaki
MALAYAN STRIPES
Jimmy Liong (c)
Syed Uzair
Athilla Miasara
Eunggwon Kim
Xiao Yi Wang-Beckvall
Lacy Schneeman
MANILA HELIOS
Kim Saraza (c)
Jacob Diago
Macy Ybanez
Seina Shima
Muhammad Aiman
Mayu Ito
TEAM TOKYO
Yuta Funemizu (c)
Aiko Yoshitomi
Rika Fujiwara
Nasa Hatakeyama
Mihae Kwon
Daniel Moore
VIET PANTHERS
Quan Do (c)
Hien Truong
Sophia Nhi Huynh
Tama Shimabukuro
Kaitlyn Christian
Ho Tam
HOW THE DRAFT WORKED
The Domestic Draft came first
Before a single international name went on the board, every team had to lock in its local core. Each side selected three domestic players, with a minimum of one male and one female player, and named one of them captain.
Those picks were confirmed ahead of the auction. They set the foundation each roster gets built on.
That left three open slots per team. The International Draft filled them.
One budget, two demands
Every MLP Asia team went into the international auction with a US$250,000 spending cap. That figure covers two things at once. Player salaries, and the bids teams place to control the draft order.
Salary is set by ranking
Pickleball World Ranking determined the salary cost of a player in the draft.
Top 20: US$25,000
No.21 to No.50: US$10,000
No.51 and below: US$5,000
Bidding for the pick
Each of the three rounds opened with a live auction for selection order. The highest bidder chose first, the next highest chose second, and so on down the board. Teams that declined to bid filled out the back of the round.
WHAT COMES NEXT
With the lineups built and locked, the season kicks off November 13 in Japan. Each team hosts one home game, facing two opponents back-to-back in an evening of high octane pickleball. Find the full schedule here.
After three weeks of group play, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs. Semifinals are set for Friday December 11, with the Super Saturday finals on December 12 deciding the 2026 season champions.
Stay tuned for more MLP Asia announcements coming soon.