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(MLP, presented by Doordash), a coed, team-based professional pickleball league, and composite materials manufacturer Toray Industries Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) have announced an agreement naming Toray a platinum partner with Kitchen branding at the professional, coed, team pickleball league’s events. This partnership makes Toray the first-ever Asia-based partner of MLP, expanding the league’s brand reach internationally as pickleball continues its unmatched domestic growth.

“MLP and Toray have been diligently and strategically working toward this partnership for several months, during which time we have been fascinated to learn about both the size of Toray’s business and the critical role that they play in the area of carbon fiber,” says George Killebrew, UPA chief revenue officer. “They will be our partner, helping to shape future global paddle production. The Toray branding of MLP’s kitchen — as well as several business-to-business opportunities at cities along the MLP schedule — will help make Toray a household name and a well-recognized brand in the U.S.”

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“Through this initiative, we aim to contribute to the development of pickleball globally, starting from the U.S., and support people’s health and well-being through sports,” says Mitsuo Ohya, president and CEO of Toray Industries Inc. “We also aim to enhance the recognition of our carbon fiber business in the U.S., create communication opportunities with Toray’s related companies in the U.S., and partner companies and potential customers across the country. As a global advanced materials manufacturer, we hope to increase awareness of Toray and create opportunities for co-creation partners to address global challenges such as climate change, resource circulation, safe water and air, health and medical care.”

Toray has a long history of supporting various sports in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Toray Pan-Pacific Open Tennis Tournament, Division One Men’s & Women’s Volleyball in Japan proper and sponsorship of participants in the Shanghai International Marathon.

Now, Toray is proud to contribute to the further growth and innovation of pickleball, one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S. Through pickleball, Toray hopes to raise awareness and enable people to experience the advantages of its composite materials, many of which have current or future applications in pickleball paddles, pickleballs and sports apparel.

Through its partnership with MLP, Toray is highlighting several of its material products, including Torayca carbon fiber is already used in some high-grade paddles. Moving forward, the company will look to use its R&D philosophy of “pursuit of the ultimate limits” to provide higher performance carbon fibers in pickleball paddle designs as well as providing Toray resins in the manufacturing of pickleballs themselves. Toray’s long-range goal is to collaborate with various pickleball equipment manufacturers to create ever more functional products, contributing to the improvement of the sport’s competitive level.