Chao-Yi Wang continues to love the international PPA circuit, winning two medals this weekend in KL.
PPA Asia
Tucked in-between the big PPA Tour Finals and the kickoff of the 2026 MLP season, the Professional Pickleball Association Asian Tour held the 2026 Panas Kuala Lumpur Open in Malaysia. This 500-level event drew a smattering of US and Australia players, but was mostly competed by the core Asia contingent of pros and featured a slew of upsets and surprises along the way.
Click here for the PickleballTournaments.com home page for the event.
Let’s do a quick recap of the results, highlighting the winners, the upsets, and the top players who made waves.
In the category of, “That’s why they play the matches,” three of the four qualifiers into the main draw found themselves advancing into the quarters, and two all the way to the semis. Props to Hung Anh Nguyen, who beat Jace Morris, No. 3 seed and Atlanta Slam finalist Tama Shimabukuro, and fellow qualifier Vanshik Kapadia to reach one semi-final, and props to Nasa Hatakeyama, who beat Chen-An Hsieh, No. 2 seed Hong Kit Wong (who owns 6 PPA int’l singles golds in the last two years), and then No. 7 traveling US pro Zane Navratil to make the other semi.
From there, top seed Hien Truong took over, trouncing Nguyen in the semis and Hatakeyama in the finals to claim his 5th medal and 2nd PPA international gold since September. Truong has now won medals in Malaysia, China, Australia, and Vietnam in the past year.
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The top seeds in the Women’s singles saw similar carnage that their male counterparts saw, though it came at the hands of lower-seeded pros instead of outright qualifiers. No. 1 Chao-Yi Wang advanced into the semis but was nearly upset in the opener. She was joined in the semis by No 5 Albie Huang, No. 7 Mihae Kwon, and No. 6 Pei-Chuan Kao (who won Gold at the APP 2025 Fort Lauderdale Open).
In the semis, Wang and Kao advanced with ease to setup a solid gold medal match. In the final, Wang took out her fellow Taiwan native Kao 5,6 for the gold.
Tama Shimabukuro keeps racking up medals, this time taking gold in Mixed and silver in Men's.
PPA Asia
The top seeded team of Tama Shimabukuro and Alix Truong were pressed early but advanced against the tough opening team of Hien Truong and Sophia Nhi Huynh. Vanshik Kapadia, who qualified in Men’s Singles and made a deep run, also qualified into the Mixed main draw and made a similarly deep run with partner Hawaiian Jamie Haas, beating Australians Pascoe & Huang in the 16s and then the No. 4 seeds Navratil & Mercado in the quarters.
In one semi, the top seeds beat the Cinderella Haas/Kapadia team, while in the bottom semi, No. 3 Chai-Yi Wang & Len Yang (a Chinese player who’s made waves both internationally and domestically, winning the 2025 US Open with Jack Munro and who is set to be a starter for the Bay Area Breakers in MLP) outlasted the No. 2 seeds Armaan Bhatia & Ting Chieh Wei to make the final. Tama & Truong were just too strong in the final, winning in three to give Alix her 5th international gold medal and Tama his first.
Collin Johns takes time off from his academy to win gold with Len Yang.
PPA Asia
The top four seeded teams moved into the semis without much trouble, leading to an excellent Saturday of Men’s doubles action. In the first semi, Tama Shimabukuro & Armaan Bhatia squeaked by the best full-time Asian team of Hong Kit Wong & Eunggwon Kim by the skin of their teeth 11,10, while from the bottom we had a rare Collin Johns sighting, as he teamed with Yang to topple another of the best full-time Asian tour teams Hien Truong & Quan Do in the other. Johns has been spending much of the past 6 months in Asia as the Technical Director for the Racket Professional Organization (RPO) in Asia.
In the final, Collin Johns won his first PPA gold medal since his last match played on tour with his brother (the 2025 Masters), cruising to a 3,6 win over Bhatia & Tama.
Yufei Long hasn't always had the best seeding in these PPA asia events, but she dominated with Ting Chieh Wei to take gold this weekend.
PPA Asia
The top seeds in the Women’s draw, two PPA tour regulars in Alix Truong & Chao-Yi Wang, struggled to advance in both the quarters and semis over top Asian and Australian talent, but eventually got to the Sunday final to compete for gold. Their luck finally ran out in the final, as they were scorched by two of the best players Asia has to offer in Yufei Long & Ting Chieh Wei, winners of the 2025 Sansan Fukuoka Open. Long & Wei dominated Truong & Wang 5,2 for the gold. We’ll soon see Wei in MLP, as she’s set to start for the Chicago Slice this season.
With this story published, the Medal Tracker is updated online. Please visit the “PPA Int’l" tab for a complete list of all prior Medal winners at all PPA Asia & PPA Australia events.
Next up for the PPA International tours? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule, the PPA Asia tour heads to China in two weeks’ time for the 2026 Macao Open.
Resources I rely on while covering the PPA International events:
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