Astrox 99 Play (2nd Gen)
Model AX-99PLAY-2G
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Astrox 99 Play (2nd Gen): Momota’s 2021 finishes on an all-graphite, 4U-only frame
The 2021 colors on a graphite frame
The Astrox 99 Play (item code AX99-PL) was the entry tier of the Astrox 99 that Yonex redesigned with Kento Momota in 2021. It wore the same White Tiger and Cherry Sunburst finishes as his Pro, but Yonex lists its frame and shaft as plain graphite, without the HM Graphite, Namd, Nanomesh Neo or Volume Cut Resin of the three tiers above, and made it in 4U only. Yonex Japan never sold it: the Play was a model for Yonex’s global site and the US market.
What the Play keeps
Yonex announced the four-tier Astrox 99 on August 23, 2021, for sale in late September, noting that technologies vary between the Tour, Game and Play. The Play’s spec block lists graphite in the frame and the shaft, no joint, and one class, 4U (average 83 g, grips 5–6). Yonex rates it medium flex and recommends 20–28 lb. Yonex USA’s 2024 catalog lists it 10 mm longer than standard, like the other tiers, with a shorter feature list: the Power-Assist Bumper, the Isometric head, the Rotational Generator System, the Aero+Box frame and a slim shaft. The weighted bumper at the frame top, a signature of the 2021 line, is in the Play too; the Volume Cut Resin of the frames above is not.
Made for recreational play
No player is documented using the Play. Yonex’s 2021 releases name Momota as the collaborator on the redesign, not as a user of the lower tiers; his record belongs to the 99 Pro, which has its own page. Yonex gave the 2021 Play no level wording of its own. Yonex USA’s online store, which listed this Play and its 2025 successor under one product, calls the Astrox 99 Play a racquet designed for recreational players.
Four tiers, two finishes
Yonex made the Play in White Tiger and Cherry Sunburst (color codes 825 and 826 on Yonex USA’s store), the two finishes of every 2021 tier, so the paint tells the generation, not the tier. Yonex USA’s store listed it strung, in 4U with a G5 grip. Its tier siblings have their own pages: the Japan-made Pro, the stiff Tour (AX99-T) and the medium-flex Game (AX99-G), all three offered in 4U and 3U. No limited edition of the 2021 Play is documented. The third-generation Play of 2025 (3AX99-PL, Black/Green) is a different racquet with its own page.
On sale outside Japan, 2021–2025
The Play was an export-market model. Yonex’s global site sold it from late 2021 and Yonex USA’s 2024 catalog listed it, while Yonex Japan’s 2024 and 2025 catalogs carry only the 2021 Pro and Game. Yonex’s global store still showed the Play in stock on September 7, 2025, two days after the third generation launched worldwide; the old page now reads out of stock, and Yonex’s current Astrox list shows only the new Play. On Yonex USA’s store the White Tiger and Cherry Sunburst options sit, unavailable, under the same product as the Black/Green 2025 Play. Yonex published no production-end notice: the 2025 line replaced it. No verified sales are recorded yet.
A documented fake
A counterfeit of this Play is documented. In April 2026 a player’s blog compared a fake White Tiger Astrox 99 Play with a genuine Cherry Sunburst one bought through official channels. The fake was a few millimeters longer even when strung, felt heavy, sat heavier on one side of the frame, had a slightly smaller logo and smudged lettering, and carried a hologram sticker that looked solid where the genuine one is partly translucent. The writer found the two almost impossible to tell apart without a genuine racquet alongside.
What the 2025 Play changed
The 2021 Play put the Momota redesign’s finishes and weighted bumper on a graphite 4U frame for recreational players. Its successor of September 2025, the 3AX99-PL in Black/Green, kept the medium flex, the 4U class and the tier’s place outside Yonex Japan’s range. The 2021 model’s interest is as the most accessible version of the redesign, and as the tier whose White Tiger finish counterfeiters are documented copying.
Yonex’s item code is AX99-PL (AX99PGE on Yonex USA’s store); the 2025 Play is 3AX99-PL. Yonex’s spec is medium flex, a graphite frame and shaft, 4U only (average 83 g, grips 5–6) and a frame 10 mm longer than standard. Every 2021 tier shares White Tiger and Cherry Sunburst, so a 3U frame in either finish is not a Play, and a stiff one is the Pro or the Tour. Yonex prints no country of manufacture for the Play. Yonex’s own counterfeit check is the hologram sticker, which resists peeling on a genuine racquet and lifts easily with a fingernail on a fake; on the documented fake Play it also looked solid rather than partly translucent. A Black/Green Play is the 2025 model.
The 2021 Play is an entry-level racquet with no documented professional user, bought to play rather than to collect. Check the code and the frame print first, since the paint is shared with three higher tiers and the name with the 2025 Play. With a White Tiger frame, compare length, balance and lettering against a genuine example where possible. Product text on Yonex USA’s current Play page covers both generations under one name.