Asia Pickleball Tour qualifiers begin at Kai Tak Arena

The Asia Professional Pickleball Tour begins its qualifying rounds

at the Kai Tak Arena today.

Organisers set up 24 pickleball courts inside the arena.

The qualifiers run from 9am to 9pm.

Each professional player must win three to four rounds

to advance to tomorrow's round of 64.

The seven-day tour features 895 players

from 22 countries and regions,

including the world's top six.

They compete for a total prize pool of 1.1 million US dollars,

or about 8.5 million Hong Kong dollars,

the highest ever for this tournament.

Players also compete for 1,500 ranking points

before the finals take place on Sunday.