Ashaari Zainal Doubles Up on Gold at WPC Malaysia 2026
Andrew Lee"Keep working. Keep improving. Keep pushing." That's how Ashaari Zainal closed out his own recap of WPC Malaysia 2026, a tournament where he walked away with two gold medals in two different doubles categories, each with a different partner.
Muhammad Ashaari Zainal Abidin, playing under Team Vetra Pickleball, won the Double 19+ 4.5 Advanced title alongside partner @assrimerzuki, then backed it up with a second gold in the Double 35+ Open category partnering Razlan Rawi, a fellow Team Malaysia player at the Pickleball World Cup. Two categories, two different teammates, both golds.
Home Court, Two Podiums
WPC Malaysia 2026 ran from 27 to 30 August at 91 PickleBall Clubhouse, one leg of what the series itself calls "the world's largest pickleball championship series." Pickle361 had already flagged Ashaari as one of the players to watch in this event's early roster spotlights, alongside Delia Arnold and India's Aalyka Ebrahim, ahead of the tournament starting.
Both of Ashaari's gold-medal runs followed the same prize structure: RM1,000 for the category champion, RM500 for the runner-up, RM250 for the second runner-up. That's RM2,000 in prize money across his two doubles titles alone, before counting the bronze he also picked up in Single 35+ Open and a quarterfinal finish in Double 19+ Open on the same trip.
A Roster Behind Every Podium
Ashaari, an ex-national tennis player and SEA Games bronze medalist who now coaches both tennis and pickleball, thanked a specific list of backers in his own post: Vetra Pickleball, Dylan Choo Choo, Bintang Pro Picklers, Bintang Athletics, and Meripergibulat. It's the kind of sponsor list that shows up when a player's results are consistent enough to be worth supporting across more than one tournament, not a one-off.
WPC Malaysia's next stop is Johor Bahru, running 12 to 15 November, giving Ashaari and his two winning partnerships a clear next target if either pairing runs it back.
This article is based on social media posts and historical data tracked by Pickle361.
