Leapmotor APP Asia Penang Open 2026: Malaysia's Upset Run and a Landmark Week
Andrew LeeGurney Drive turned into pickleball's biggest stage in Asia this past week. More than 1,200 players descended on Pickle By The Sea for the Leapmotor APP Asia Penang Open 2026, the tournament that made Malaysia's new status official: permanent home of the APP's Asia headquarters.
By the time Championship Sunday wrapped, the story wasn't just who lifted the trophies. It was how many of the week's loudest moments belonged to Malaysian players standing across the net from the sport's ranked elite.
Malaysia's Moment
Khoo Er Yang opened the upsets. Seeded No.16, the former national tennis player took down tournament top seed Jack Foster of the United States in three games, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, in the Round of 16. His run ended one round later, in the Quarterfinals.
A day later, Dylan Ooi did it from behind. Down a game to No.3 seed Brian Tran of Australia, the No.14 seed clawed back to win 4-11, 11-8, 11-9 and reach the same Quarterfinal stage, where he ran into Aiman Hamdan, the eventual bronze medalist.
Chan Guo Jing and Chan Ren Chern added a doubles shock of their own in the Round of 32, knocking out No.7 seeds Jai Grewal (New Zealand) and Minh Le (Vietnam), 11-2, 6-11, 11-1, before falling in the Round of 16.
Three upsets, three different draws, one message. Home courts still carry weight, even against a 1,200-player international field, and Malaysia's players are pushing seeded opposition deep into tournaments, not just landing early hits.
The Champions
Vietnam's Quang Duong took the Men's Pro Singles title, beating a field that included China's Phoenix He for silver and Malaysia's own Aiman Hamdan, who claimed bronze on home soil. Duong added a second gold in Men's Pro Doubles alongside India's Harsh Mehta.
The bigger story belonged to Roos Van Reek. The Dutch player left Penang with three gold medals: Women's Pro Singles, Women's Pro Doubles with Vivian Glozman, and Mixed Pro Doubles with Jack Munro. A Triple Crown, in APP Asia Tour language, means winning it all in one tournament. Van Reek did exactly that.
Full Results
Men's Pro Singles: Quang Duong (gold), Phoenix He (silver), Aiman Hamdan (bronze).
Women's Pro Singles: Roos Van Reek (gold), Yu-Chieh Hsieh (silver). Bronze medal result unconfirmed at time of writing.
Men's Pro Doubles: Quang Duong and Harsh Mehta (gold), Aidan Schenk and Jack Munro (silver), Santhosh Narayanan and Purple Jesus Manthou (bronze).
Women's Pro Doubles: Vivian Glozman and Roos Van Reek (gold), Domenika Turkovic and Shelby Bates (silver), Allison Harris and Amanda Hendry (bronze).
Mixed Pro Doubles: Jack Munro and Roos Van Reek (gold), Quang Duong and Amanda Hendry (silver). Bronze medal result unconfirmed at time of writing.
Full brackets: sportssync.asia
Why This Matters for Malaysia
The Penang Open was never just another stop. It followed the tour's earlier visit to Kuala Lumpur and confirmed Malaysia as the APP's permanent Asia base.
That status is starting to show up in results, not just venues. Three Malaysian upsets against seeded international opposition, in front of a home crowd at Gurney Drive, is the kind of week that shifts how the region's players see themselves against the sport's ranked names.
Building What Comes Next
Aiman Hamdan's bronze in Men's Singles keeps Malaysia on the board at the medal level. Khoo Er Yang, Dylan Ooi, and the Chan Guo Jing/Chan Ren Chern pairing showed the ceiling is higher than seeding suggests.
The APP Asia Tour moves on, but Penang has already made its case. Whatever comes next for Malaysian pickleball, this week belongs on the timeline.
