Rodrigo Regalado

CEO

PFA Pickleball Cup Regional Tournament Format

Cancun, Mexico – December 2025

Team Structure

Each country will enter two teams:

  • 12 – 49 years old
  • 50 years and older

Teams will compete in:

  • Men’s Singles
  • Women’s Singles
  • Men’s Doubles
  • Women’s Doubles
  • Mixed Doubles

Countries can select different players for each event, allowing strategic specialization.

Tournament Platform & Ratings

The tournament will be run on the UTR event platform.  Final rating normalization will be determined closer to selection and seedings. Every effort will be made to have a rating cap and keep the tournament competitive.

Tournament Structure

Countries will be grouped based on team strength. Each round consists of:

  • One Men’s Singles match
  • One Women’s Singles match
  • One Men’s Doubles match
  • One Women’s Doubles match
  • One Mixed Doubles match

The first team to win three out of five matches wins the round.

Top two teams from each group advance to a knockout round to determine the final rankings.

Team Selection Guidelines

  • Each federation selects its representatives.
  • Minimum of four players per team.
  • Maximum of nine players per federation.
  • Federations use their own criteria for player selection.

Player National Eligibility

Clear Connection Requirement

  • Players must hold legal nationality of the country they represent.
  • Legal residence (2+ years)
  • Direct lineage (parent or grandparent born in the country)
  • Active membership in a national pickleball association

Switching Allegiances

  • No competition for a prior country in the last 3 years
  • Formal request for eligibility change
  • Compliance with new country’s nationality rules

Appeals

The PFA Appeals Committee will review unique cases.

Open Cup (Individual Cup)

Six skill categories for men and women:

  • Beginners (Ages 13 – 49)
  • Intermediate (Ages 13 – 49)
  • Advanced (Ages 13 – 49)
  • Masters Beginners (Ages 50+)
  • Masters Intermediate (Ages 50+)
  • Masters Advanced (Ages 50+)

Registration fee per player (to be determined). Open tournament will be run on the UTR event platform. The category rating level will be finalized as we get closer to the final selection and seedings.

Rating System for Pool Games

Team rating calculated using:

Team Rating = (M1 + M2) + (W1 + W2) + (M1 + W1) + (M2 + W2) / 4
  • M1, M2 = Ratings of top two male players
  • W1, W2 = Ratings of top two female players

Ranking & Grouping

Ranking the Teams

16 teams ranked from highest to lowest.

Balanced Grouping (Snake Draft)

  • Pool A: 1st, 8th, 9th, 16th
  • Pool B: 2nd, 7th, 10th, 15th
  • Pool C: 3rd, 6th, 11th, 14th
  • Pool D: 4th, 5th, 12th, 13th

This ensures balanced competition across pools.

 

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