<b>2026 Australian Pickleball Championships (APC) <b/>
Welcome to Australia's pinnacle tournament of the year, The Australian Pickleball Championships (APC), a Tier 6 sanctioned tournament, where players can gain Australian Ranking (AR) points.
The APC brings together players of all ages and skills and offers inclusive opportunities for able-bodied and players with disabilities, physical or intellectual, to compete alongside and with some of the best homegrown and international talent.
This tournament will use the current Global Pickleball Federation rules. They can be found at: https://globalpickleballfederation.org/pickleball-rulebook/
This tournament will also adhere to the PA Participant Code of Behaviour Policy. This can be found at: https://www.pickleballaus.org/tournaments
<b>EVENT SCHEDULE<b/>
Monday 28 September: Level 1, 3, 4 Referee Courses and Level 1 Coaching Course
Tuesday 29 September: Skinny Singles (Level 2 Referee Course)
Wednesday 30 September: Combined Age 125+ Years and Split Age Mixed Doubles, Coed Hybrid Doubles
Thursday 1 October: Singles & Pro/Senior Pro Singles
Friday 2nd October: Women's Doubles, Split Age Men's Doubles, Pro/Senior Pro Gender Doubles
Saturday 3rd October: Men's Doubles, Split Age Women's Doubles, Pro/Senior Pro Mixed Doubles
Sunday 4th October: Mixed Doubles, Pro/Senior Pro Grand Finals Day (Bronze & Gold Medal matches)
Monday 5th October: Play delay catchup day
Players can enter a maximum of 7 events, but this cannot comprise of more than the following:
1 x Skinny Singles
1 x Singles
1 x Gender Doubles
1 x Mixed Doubles
1 x Split Age Gender Doubles
1 x Split Aged Mixed Doubles
1 x Combined Age Mixed Doubles OR 1 x Hybrid Doubles
Players are guaranteed minimum three games per event. Medals will be awarded to gold, silver and bronze winning competitors in each bracket.
<b>REGISTRATION<b/>
Registrations Open: 3pm, 31st March 2026
Registrations Close: 11:55pm 30th August 2026 or earlier if capacity is reached.
Early Bird Registration (closes 11:55pm 31st May 2026) - $85 and $55 for juniors (Under 18 playing in junior events only), then $20 per event for juniors, $30 per event for amateurs and $40 per event for pro.
General Registration (closes 11:55pm 23rd August 2026) - $95 and $65 for juniors (Under 18 playing in junior events only), then $20 per event for juniors, $30 per event for amateurs and $40 per event for pro.
Late Registration (closes 11:55pm 30th August 2026) - $100 and $70 for juniors (Under 18 playing in junior events only), then $20 per event for juniors, $30 per event for amateurs and $40 per event for pro.
<b>PLAYER ELIGIBITY<b/>
Players may enter age events based on their age as at Dec 31 2026. Singles and Doubles skill based events will be based on a players appropriate singles / doubles DUPR rating at the close of regsitration.
Participants must have a Pickleball Tournaments account that is linked to a current PA membership and DUPR account. If you need help setting this up, please visit https://www.pickleballaus.org/faq-players
Players may enter a doubles event without a partner, but it is the responsibility of the participant to source a partner and have them enter to secure a position.
Skinny Singles skill based events will be based on a players doubles DUPR rating at the close of registration.
Please note Pro event entry is not guaranteed. At the close of registration on the 30th of August 2026 at 11:55pm, entry into Pro and Senior Pro events will be determined by a players DUPR which has a reliability score of greater than 60%.
Player/s who have entered into the Pro or Senior Pro events, but who do not qualify will be offered positions in the appropriate age 4.0+ skill brackets (unless these events are also full). Player/s should monitor where their DUPR is in relation to the registrations and amend their entry as they see fit.
<b>WAITLIST:<b/>
Singles: players will automatically be allocated a position in the main draw, UNLESS an event is at capacity.
Doubles: players will automatically be allocated a position in the main draw, UNLESS the event is at capacity. Teams who have both players enter the event, will be prioiritised over a player who fails to secure a partner. Teams that do not have both partners registered will be moved to the waitlists after 7 days. Teams will only be moved back after both teams are entered if the main draw is not full.
At the close of registration, the Tournament Director will determine if waitlisted players can/cannot be added to the event based on venue capacity at any given time.
<b>TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR DISCRETION<b/>
The tournament director reserves the right to:
- Review, and possibly alter the rating of players who self-rate below or above their actual rating.
- Move players and teams between skill level brackets if on verification the wrong event has been entered.
- Merge Events with 4 or less entries with another event of closest possible standard.
- Change start times to facilitate smooth running of the tournament.
- Modify events and/or schedules as required due to influences beyond our control (ie. extreme weather).
- Accept/reject waitlisted player entries after registration close based on venue capacity at any given time.
