Two weeks before the draws came out in Kuala Lumpur, Gabriel Tardio and Noe Khlif were on opposite sides of the net at the Major League Pickleball finals in New York. Khlif's team won. In Malaysia they play together, and they arrive as the top seeds in Men's Doubles at the Leapmotor Kuala Lumpur Cup 2026.
This is a PPA Asia 1000 stop, the second-highest tier on the 2026 PPA Tour Asia calendar, with up to US$300,000 in prize money and 1000 ranking points for each champion. It runs at The Hood in Kuala Lumpur from September 9 to 13.
Dates | September 9 to 13, 2026 |
Venue | The Hood, Kuala Lumpur |
City | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
Pro prize money | up to US$300,000 |
Ranking tier | PPA 1000 |
Ranking points | 1000 to each champion |
Official results | pickleballtournaments.com |
Tardio arrives with two top seedings
Tardio is ranked second in the world and holds the top seeding in both Men's Doubles, with Khlif, and Mixed Doubles, with Jessie Irvine. The Bolivian already has an Asia title from the MB Hanoi Cup in April. Kuala Lumpur is his first visit to Malaysia.
Khlif is making his Asia debut off the back of that MLP title, and he is not only playing doubles. He is the fourth seed in Men's Singles, where the draw points him toward a quarterfinal with Luc Pham, a finalist at the MB Ho Chi Minh City Open and a Mixed Doubles semifinalist in Shenzhen across his two previous stops.
Zane Ford holds the top Men's Singles seeding, in a half that also contains Eunggwon Kim and the eighth seed Harrison Brown. Ford reached the final in Beijing in June and the semifinals in Tokyo in July.
Four contenders, one Men's Doubles trophy
The Men's Doubles draw is the deepest of the five. Tardio and Khlif are projected to meet fourth seeds Eunggwon Kim and Hong Kit Wong in the semifinals, a pair who have spent the season close to a first gold together without landing one. Second seeds Augustus Ge and Len Yang anchor the other half, with third seeds Tama Shimabukuro and Yuta Funemizu in the same section.
Christian leads a crowded Women's Singles
Kaitlyn Christian takes the top Women's Singles seeding with a Malaysian title already behind her, having won gold at the Panas Malaysia Cup 2025. Her quarter contains Anni Xie, a Singapore finalist in July, and fifth seed Judit Castillo.
The bottom half is heavier still: third seed Chao Yi Wang arrives as the Shenzhen champion, sixth seed Yufei Long has been the most decorated player of the Asia era, and eighth seed Rika Fujiwara won in both Macao and Tokyo. Second seed Brooke Buckner anchors that side, which sets up a projected final against Christian and a rematch of their Hanoi final.
Christian is entered in three events, adding the fourth Women's Doubles seeding with Allyce Jones and the third Mixed Doubles seeding with Kim.
Where the tour goes next
Kuala Lumpur is the last stop before the Hang Seng Bank Hong Kong Slam, the PPA Asia 1500 finale at Kai Tak Arena from October 19 to 25, with a prize pool reported at up to US$1.1 million.
More from the Leapmotor Kuala Lumpur Cup
Results verified against the official bracket on pickleballtournaments.com and the PPA Tour Asia tournament page. Photographs: PPA Tour Asia.