All five top seeds reached the finals at the Panas Kuala Lumpur Open 2026, which had not happened before on the tour.
Wang one day from a triple crown
Chao Yi Wang reached all three finals. She beat Albie Huang 11-7, 11-4 in the singles, recovered from a 0-11 second game with Alix Truong against Kara Wheatley and Nok Yiu Tang to win the Women's Doubles semifinal 11-7 in the decider, and beat Ting Chieh Wei and Armaan Bhatia 11-6, 11-6 with Len Yang in the Mixed Doubles.
A sweep would have made her the first woman to win a triple crown in Asia, and the second player after Connor Garnett. She was also still without a singles gold, having taken silver in Hangzhou and bronze at the Panas Malaysia Cup.
Japan's first Men's Singles medal
Nasa Hatakeyama beat Wil Shaffer 11-4, 11-5 to reach the final, which guaranteed Japan a first Men's Singles medal on the PPA Tour Asia. He had come through qualifying and beaten the second and seventh seeds. He was ranked 109th in the world and Hien Truong, his opponent, 18th.
Truong reached the final without losing a game in singles, beating Nguyen Hung Anh 11-5, 11-3. It was his third Men's Singles final in Asia after silvers at the MB Vietnam Cup 2025 and the MB Hanoi Cup 2026.
Semifinal results
Event | Round | Winner | Defeated | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Men's Singles | Semifinals | Nasa Hatakeyama (JPN) | Wil Shaffer (USA) | 11-4, 11-5 |
Men's Singles | Semifinals | Hien Truong (VIE) | Nguyen Hung Anh (VIE) | 11-5, 11-3 |
Women's Singles | Semifinals | Pei-Chuan Kao (TPE) | Mihae Kwon (KOR) | 11-3, 11-9 |
Women's Singles | Semifinals | Chao Yi Wang (TPE) | Albie Huang (TPE) | 11-7, 11-4 |
Men's Doubles | Semifinals | Armaan Bhatia (IND) / Tama Shimabukuro (USA) | Eunggwon Kim (KOR) / Hong Kit Wong (HKG) | 13-11, 12-10 |
Men's Doubles | Semifinals | Len Yang (USA) / Collin Johns (USA) | Hien Truong (VIE) / Quan Do (USA) | 10-12, 11-8, 11-7 |
Women's Doubles | Semifinals | Yufei Long (CHN) / Ting Chieh Wei (TPE) | Albie Huang (TPE) / Aiko Yoshitomi (JPN) | 11-2, 11-3 |
Women's Doubles | Semifinals | Alix Truong (USA) / Chao Yi Wang (TPE) | Kara Wheatley (HKG) / Nok Yiu Tang (HKG) | 11-9, 0-11, 11-7 |
Mixed Doubles | Semifinals | Alix Truong (USA) / Tama Shimabukuro (USA) | Vanshik Kapadia (IND) / Jamie Haas (USA) | 11-2, 11-9 |
Mixed Doubles | Semifinals | Chao Yi Wang (TPE) / Len Yang (USA) | Ting Chieh Wei (TPE) / Armaan Bhatia (IND) | 11-6, 11-6 |
More from the Panas Kuala Lumpur Open
Results verified against the official bracket on pickleballtournaments.com and the PPA Tour Asia tournament page. Photographs: PPA Tour Asia.