Mikar Fisher is an English pro based in Hanoi, Cartivo Movers' top scorer, number two among the men and number four overall in the Philippines' professional league. Chris Beaumont catches up with him at nine o'clock at night in Manila to talk about the Pickle Yard Conference League (PYCL), now in its second season.

We start with the Dream Breaker: four chances, two or three points that really matter, and why Cartivo have been struggling in it — not breaking even at two-all, and in some matches losing all four.

Then how he arrived in the league. Mikar has had chances to sign elsewhere and held off, because without leverage "they're going to sign you for as cheap as they can get you." PYCL wanted to help him build that profile, and the league has drawn 10.5 million views since it has been on.

His story runs through tennis: his dad was his first coach, played Davis Cup and later coached Heather Watson; a US college scholarship; a high-performance tennis job; then a favour for a friend that became an obsession. He picked up a PPA bronze in Tucson, ended up drilling in Kansas with players including Jack Sock, sprang the plan on his wife, left his job and moved to Asia full time.

Why Vietnam? The week-in, week-out level is very high — tennis, ping pong and badminton players mixed in, not just a tennis-based field — and the cost of living is lower. Why not the US circuit? Pay $1,500 for a flight, maybe do less well, and even if you do well you can take home less prize money than if you stay closer to home.

On PYCL: Cartivo are the youngest team in the league, with most of the drafted players still in school. They started well, then got complacent, and he talks about managing energy with a group doing this for the first time. Cameras, a huge live audience, playing for Team England ("having Megan on the team was huge"), a Welsh dad and a Filipino mum, coming back to her home and meeting family he had never met, and a career that, a couple of years ago, he would have told you to jog on.

PYCL Season 2 runs to the final on 27 November.

Chapters:

00:00 Cold open: what's going wrong in the Dream Breaker

01:11 Welcome: PYCL and Mikar Fisher

03:13 How he ended up in the PYCL

05:06 Building leverage, and 10.5 million views

06:57 Pro pickleball in Vietnam

08:21 Why pickleball is easier to break into than tennis

08:58 Growing up: dad the tennis coach

11:06 College tennis in the States

13:18 A high-performance tennis job

14:42 First hit of pickleball

15:22 Getting obsessed, then the country club

16:29 Mike Wolf, Jack Sock and drilling in Kansas

18:57 Leaving the job and moving to Asia

20:11 First weeks in Vietnam

21:49 Does the money work?

23:24 The Asian paddle market

26:28 Why Vietnam: high level, week-in week-out

28:21 Two roads: star at home, or try the US

30:53 How the game is growing

32:34 Ten million people watching the league

33:20 Playing in front of the cameras

34:14 Cartivo: the youngest team in the league

36:37 Managing energy when a young team wobbles

38:52 Raw talent and flair in the Philippines

40:44 Coaching a sport that is still this new

42:04 How the best train: short, hard intervals

43:19 Desire, and kids you cannot bully with strength

45:28 Team England and a shout-out to Megan

47:20 Welsh dad, Filipino mum

48:48 "I would have told you to jog on"

49:21 What's next for Cartivo

50:35 The playoff picture

52:06 Wrap-up

Guest: Mikar Fisher

Host: Chris Beaumont

The World Pickleball Podcast, from World Pickleball Magazine. Subscribe and tell your friends.

Crystal Mildwaters went first overall in the PYCL draft, and the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems' captain is now the league's No.1 ranked player. Chris Beaumont catches up with her at 10pm in Manila to talk about the Pickle Yard Conference League (PYCL), the professional league in the Philippines now in its second season.

We start with draft night: a gala where they booked out an entire cinema, why going No.1 felt like fate given her family's roots in Cebu, and the Australian connection with Aaron Johnson.

Then the game itself: the Gems' Dream Breaker plan, why Filipino courts play faster and the 48-hole ball sits up, how the dinking differs from Australia, and the teams to watch, including Mikar Fisher and the Cartivo Movers.

Crystal explains life as a PYCL ambassador, a league week, game day with the Gems fans, and how 300 people in the stands turned into 11 million live-stream views in two weeks.

And her story: the tennis years, the switch to pickleball, going from last female pick in Queensland to first overall in a year, and captaining the Opals to the 2026 NPL title after being down in the final and going into "war mode".

Finally: how Filipino fans pick a team, the Vietnam comparison, being recognised by her dentist, and courts full until 3am.

PYCL Season 2 runs to the final on 27 November, broadcast on GMA with SPOTV online.

Chapters:

00:00 Cold open: the No.1 pick felt like fate

00:55 Welcome: PYCL and Crystal Mildwaters

02:42 PYCL draft night: the gala

04:11 Aaron Johnson and the Australian connection

05:00 Dream Breaker strategy

06:16 Helping the Filipino game grow

07:39 Philippines v Australia: faster courts, 48-hole ball, dinking

09:48 Teams to watch: Mikar Fisher and Cartivo

10:45 What the Gems need to win it

11:56 Life as a PYCL ambassador

13:39 Filipino roots

14:51 Game day and the Gems fans

16:57 A PYCL league week

18:16 The tennis years

21:20 From tennis to pickleball: last pick to first pick

23:56 Quickfire: left or right, one Filipino to watch

25:06 Most memorable match: the NPL final

26:35 If not the Gems, who?

27:38 How Filipino fans pick a team

29:07 Team fandom and the Vietnam comparison

30:24 Recognised by the dentist and pickleball all night

31:36 Wrap-up

Guest: Crystal Mildwaters

Host: Chris Beaumont

The World Pickleball Podcast, from World Pickleball Magazine. Subscribe and tell your friends.

JW Johnson is the new world No.1 on DUPR — so is Ben Johns actually coming off the boil? Chris Beaumont is joined by Gordon Watson to unpick the biggest talking point in pickleball.

Gordo was at the English Nationals at Bolton Arena, so we go through the results. Barbara Capper and Sharon Tinsley took the 50+ women's doubles title on the Friday, with Amanda Evans and Julie Mac second and Rochelle Penrose and Anna Linton third, and Richard Love finishing just outside the medals in the 50+ men's. On the Saturday, James Chaudry and James Ling beat Ben Cawston and Louis Laville in the men's open final, and Katie Morris and Molly O'Donoghue won the women's open over Evie Kenna and Ellie Tomkinson. On the Sunday, Ellie Tomkinson and James Ling took the mixed open, beating Molly O'Donoghue and Louis Laville, with Katie Morris and James Lofthouse taking bronze.

Gordo also explains why the Franklin ball nobody was expecting became the story of the weekend, what Louis Laville said after the men's final, and how quickly Pickleball England responded.

Then: ITV picking pickleball up in the build-up to the Nationals, and why more exposure doesn't automatically mean more money for governing bodies that are running on zero funding.

And the big one. JW Johnson now holds the highest DUPR rating in the world. Is that a changing of the guard, or is the "Ben Johns is sinking" narrative premature? We talk Hayden Patriquin ("arguably the most insane pickleball talent in the world"), Christian Alshon and Gabe Tardio knocking on the door, the Jack Sock partnership, the Australian cricket team comparison, and whether any player would trade weeks at No.1 for major titles.

Plus the first World Pickleball Magazine Heat Check rankings: a combined men's and women's top 10, with Anna Leigh Waters five points clear of Anna Bright, Ben Johns third and Hayden Patriquin fourth — and how the model is built from pickle stats rankings, results rating, win percentage over the last 20 matches, MLP form and the fantasy league model.

We also cover the Nations Cup (the US won it again, and Anna Bright had a moment she won't want to watch back), whether a Great Britain team would be England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland under Olympic rules, and the LIV Golf comparison for players moving between tours.

Finally, what's next: Rome on Wednesday night, Austria on the 22nd, MLP Australia and MLP Asia the weekend after next, and a rumour about a very big global announcement coming this week.

Chapters:

00:00 A podcast studio in the back of a van

00:31 Nations Cup: the US win again

01:27 Anna Bright and an unusual first game

03:46 How Latin America swept Australia

04:21 Is the Nations Cup a trial for the World Cup?

09:24 English Nationals results

10:11 Women's doubles 50+: Capper and Tinsley take gold

12:01 The Franklin ball nobody expected

12:31 Louis Laville's interview and Pickleball England's response

16:01 Ellie Tomkinson and the future of mixed doubles

16:44 ITV, exposure and the funding problem

18:46 DUPR seeding at the English Open

19:30 JW Johnson is world No.1

20:32 Hayden Patriquin: the most insane talent

21:02 How the Heat Check rankings work

22:05 The first Heat Check top 10

22:47 Would you trade No.1 for a major?

24:14 JW's MLP season and the Danni-Elle Townsend reel

25:14 The "Ben Johns is sinking" narrative

26:29 "Are you calling Jack Sock the team?"

28:35 Ben Johns, Anna Leigh Waters and unreal expectations

30:11 The mixed doubles question at the Worlds

32:11 Gordon's pickleball week in Rockhampton

33:22 Chris's week: Rome, Austria, MLP Australia and Asia

34:44 Sign-off

Guest: Gordon Watson

Host: Chris Beaumont

The World Pickleball Podcast, from World Pickleball Magazine. Subscribe and tell your friends.