The MB Hanoi Cup 2026 will get underway in a number of days, and the discharge of the official seedings has injected early depth into the PPA Tour Asia’s opening cease of the season.
Entrance and centre of the highlight is Anna Leigh Waters, who arrives as the highest seed in each Ladies’s Doubles and Combined Doubles. The American standout faces rapid expectations as she prepares for her first look on the worldwide stage subsequent month. She might be flanked by elite firm, teaming up alongside World No.2 Anna Vivid within the Ladies’s Doubles and world No.1 Ben Johns within the Combined occasion. Armed with a staggering haul of greater than 190 gold medals, Waters heads to Vietnam with a transparent goal—edge nearer to the 200-mark milestone.
Johns, in the meantime, doubles up because the main contender in Males’s Doubles, the place he companions Gabe Tardio because the top-seeded tandem. The American ace might be chasing a breakthrough gold in Asia after settling for silver and bronze throughout his 2025 marketing campaign on tour.
The Males’s Singles bracket guarantees a fierce contest, with Federico Staksrud getting into as the person to beat. The World No.2 from Argentina is not any stranger to high-level competitors within the area, having secured bronze on the Vibrant Linping Hangzhou Open final December. With 1000 rating factors on provide, Staksrud might be decided to mount a severe push in the direction of reclaiming the highest rating.
Shut behind him is second seed Christian Alshon, who will look to rediscover the shape that noticed him dominate the Panas Malaysia Cup in Kuala Lumpur final yr. Third seed Connor Garnett additionally looms giant, aiming to recreate his outstanding run in Asia, highlighted by a Males’s Singles title en path to a Triple Crown on the Sansan Fukuoka Open 2025.
On the ladies’s facet, the Singles draw blends rising stars with confirmed performers. Kate Fahey leads the sector in her first outing in Asia. The world No.2 boasts 5 singles titles amongst her 20 PPA singles medals and might be keen so as to add to that tally.
Kaitlyn Christian, at present ranked World No.3 and recent off her Panas Malaysia Cup triumph, stands as a significant impediment to Fahey’s ambitions. One other identify to observe is sixth seed Sahra Dennehy, who has constructed sturdy momentum within the area. The World No.13 closed out 2025 in dominant vogue, capturing back-to-back gold medals on the MB Vietnam Cup and the Vibrant Linping Hangzhou Open with out dropping a match.
All roads result in the My Dinh Indoor Athletics Area in Hanoi from 1–5 April, the place 1000 PPA rating factors and a prize pool of as much as US$300,000 await. With the stakes firmly set, the stage is primed for a high-calibre week of pickleball.
