002 Academy's Signing Spree Follows a New Strategy Hire
Andrew Lee002 Pickleball Club & Academy hired Geraldine Loh-Francis as Director of Strategies & Partnerships on 21 Jul. Within five days, the academy signed three new players, watched two of them reach a career-first Round of 16, and celebrated one of them winning back-to-back tournament titles.
A Hire Built to Free Up the Coaching Side
Loh-Francis previously managed squash legend Nicol David, according to the academy's own announcement, and brings that player-management background to 002. H
er arrival frees head coach Colin Tan to focus more directly on player and coaching development, work the academy says is aimed at raising coaching and playing standards across Malaysia.
The academy now counts 14 coaches under its banner, with new backing secured from Gearbox and Paddletek alongside its existing partners.
Three Signings, Five Days
The roster moves started fast. Hours after the Loh-Francis announcement, 002 signed Irshad Mustafa, who plays on a Gearbox GX2 Power.
The next day, Ramon and Irshad qualified for the Round of 16 in Men's Doubles Pro Division at the APP Penang Open, Irshad's first ever Round of 16 at that level.
002 signed Lim Ze-Young, known as Young, on 22 Jul, playing on an Arronax KVL005. That same day, the academy also signed Dickson Ng, a player 002 says it had wanted since he was rated below 3.5.
The academy held the Ng announcement for four days, revealing it only once he had something to show for it, the Men's Doubles 4.999 title at the APP Penang Open and a second title, Men's Doubles at the EPIC World International, both on the same Arronax paddle as Young.
A Pattern, Not a Coincidence
Read on its own, any one of these posts is a routine signing or a hiring announcement. Read together, in the exact order they landed, they describe a five-day stretch where a new strategy hire, three roster additions, and a real on-court result all reinforce the same push, an academy actively building toward producing Malaysia's next tier of competitive players rather than just running a coaching business.
002's own signing graphic for Ng carries the line the academy is using to frame all of it: a new chapter, one goal, championship mindset.
This article is based on social media posts and historical data tracked by Pickle361.
