Panas Malaysia Cup 2025: Shocking Upsets and Semifinal Showdowns
What's the Score?
The PPA Tour Asia Panas Malaysia Cup 2025 opened with immediate, high-octane drama, marked by stunning upsets and heroic comebacks. The biggest surprise came in men’s singles when UPA Asia Trailblazer Marco Leung defeated the second seed Grayson Goldin 11-9, 10-12, 11-9, securing the biggest win of his career. Women’s singles also saw an upset as Chinese Taipei’s Huang Hsiang Wen recovered from a 0-9 deficit in the third game to beat Canadian fourth seed Hannah Blatt 10-12, 12-10, 13-11. Even men’s world No. 1 Ben Johns and Christian Alshon, making their men’s doubles debut, faced a major scare, surviving a three-game thriller against Vietnamese duo Hien Truong and Quan Do, 11-0, 9-11, 11-8. Following the initial chaos, the singles fields narrowed, setting the men’s and women’s semifinals in Shah Alam.
Hit it deeper!
The nail-biting men’s doubles match involving Johns and Alshon was a defining moment of Day 1. After cruising through the first game 11-0, the top seeds encountered fierce resistance from Truong and Do. The Vietnamese players rallied to take the second game 11-9 and, in the deciding frame, found themselves leading 8-7, just three points away from a monumental upset. Johns and Alshon narrowly averted disaster by scoring the final four points. US professional Anna Bright, observing the chaos, was highly impressed by the performance of the underdogs, writing, “Crazy freaking match in Malaysia!” and adding that the guys they played "were so good! Asian pickleball".
The upsets weren't limited to doubles. Marco Leung, from Macau, secured his career-defining victory over Goldin by holding firm through three tight games. Huang Hsiang Wen’s comeback was equally dramatic, staging a monumental recovery in the third game against Blatt after dropping the opener. Australia’s Sahra Dennehy also had a stellar performance, reaching three quarterfinals by rallying past No. 3 seed Liz Truluck in women’s singles (7-11, 11-9, 11-6) and sweeping the North American seeds (Blatt and Goldin) in mixed doubles alongside Santhosh Narayanan.
By Friday, the focus shifted to the quarterfinals in Shah Alam, Selangor, setting up the semifinal matches. In women’s singles, Roos Van Reek, Andie Dikosavljevic, Kaitlyn Christian, and Chao Yi Wang all advanced. Roos Van Reek defeated Sahra Dennehy 11-6, 11-7, while Kaitlyn Christian delivered a commanding 11-4, 11-1 victory over Ting Chieh Wei. Andie Dikosavljevic needed three sets (11-4, 9-11, 11-3) to overcome Hsiang Wen Huang.
In the men's singles quarterfinals, Christian Alshon delivered the round’s most dominant performance, defeating Mitchell Hargreaves 11-4, 11-1. Hien Truong ended the impressive run of Marco Leung with an 11-3, 11-3 straight-game win. The other semifinalists, Hoang Nam Ly and Hong Kit Wong, advanced after winning hard-fought three-game matches.
The World Pickleball Verdict
The Panas Malaysia Cup serves as powerful evidence that Asian pickleball talent is rapidly closing the gap with the established American PPA Tour professionals. The near-upset of the highly ranked Johns/Alshon pairing, along with the monumental singles victories by Leung and Huang, demonstrates that Asian players are not just competing, but aggressively challenging the global elite. While some sources argue it may be "premature" to claim the preeminent Asian talent is fully at the world-class level yet, the resilience and skill demonstrated mean that North American professionals "can’t take their Asian counterparts lightly". The tournament provides a vital measuring stick, giving players from countries like Vietnam, Australia, and China a chance to see how they stack up, and the high-stakes, intense battles guarantee future drama as the global reach of pickleball expands.