Top International Pickleball Pros Continue To Prove Their Mettle At The 2026 Kuala Lumpur Open

BusinessSportsMoneyTop International Pickleball Pros Continue To Prove Their Mettle At The 2026 Kuala Lumpur OpenByTodd Boss,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Todd Boss writes about Pickleball, the fastest growing sport in USAFollow AuthorMay 18, 2026, 08:25am EDTChao-Yi Wang continues to love the international PPA circuit, winning two medals this weekend in KL.PPA AsiaTucked 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.Men’s Pro Singles RecapIn 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.MORE FOR YOUWomen’s Pro Singles RecapThe 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...