Tour Finals PPA-500 Draws Offer A Glimpse Into The Future Of The Tour With Tama And Kiora Wins

BusinessSportsMoneyTour Finals PPA-500 Draws Offer A Glimpse Into The Future Of The Tour With Tama And Kiora WinsByTodd Boss,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Todd Boss writes about Pickleball, the fastest growing sport in USAFollow AuthorMay 12, 2026, 09:56am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Kiora Kunimoto is part of a new wave of teenagers making waves on tour.PPAThis year, instead of just having a small top-pro only draw for its Tour Finals event, the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) ran an entire amateur tournament as well as a 500-level pro event to get some of its tour players another opportunity to hit the courts and fulfil contractual obligations. Nearly 1,600 players participated in the Tour Finals event as a result, which helped pack the stands and give the non-qualifying touring pros an event to play to help fill their schedules. This is a quick recap of the 500-level event, which in my Medal Tracker I have included into the PPA Challenger section (for lack of a better place to put it). There was also a full slate of Senior Pro events which we’ll briefly cover at the end, which are on the Senior Medal Tracker.We’ve already covered the Tour Finals component, where the tour’s top players competed for its season-ending championship and which featured a clean sweep of all five No. 1 seeds.Click here for the PickleballTournaments.com home page for the event, where you can get tournament details, draw sheets, and results.With that said, let’s recap the action.Men’s Pro Singles RecapThe Men’s Singles draw featured a slew of singles specialists who have had deep runs in PPA events in the past, names like Zane Ford, Michael Loyd, Luc Pham, Adam Harvey, Mota Alhouni, and Spartak Rahachou. However, the final once again featured the 15-yr old Tama Shimabukuro, who topped the No. 1 seeded Ford in the semis before falling to...