DROUGHTS BREAK IN SHENZHEN
| August 22, 2026
Grayson Goldin had never won a Men’s Singles match on the PPA Tour Asia. Now he is in the final.
The Men’s Singles World No.29 arrived at the Skechers Shenzhen Open with an 0:3 record in Asia singles, all three losses coming in the round of 16 and all three agonizingly close. He fell in three games to Marco Leung at the Panas Malaysia Cup 2025, in three to Jimmy Liong Kai Long at the Sansan Tokyo Open in July, and in three again to Mikar Larenzo Fisher at the MB Ho Chi Minh City Open earlier this month. All three losses also went against the American by just two points in the decider each time.
This week the script flipped entirely. Goldin has not just won matches, he has reached the final, seeing off Macao Open champion Tama Shimabukuro 11-8, 11-4 in the semifinal. Panas Kuala Lumpur Open 2026 winner Hien Truong awaits, going through 11-8, 6-11, 11-3 against Adam Harvey.
FOLLOW TOURNAMENT ACTION
Another long wait ended in the Men’s Doubles. Top seeds Eunggwon Kim and Hong Kit Wong had reached the semifinals at six straight stops in 2026 and lost every time, the nearly men of the discipline. That run finally broke in Shenzhen. They saw off Shimabukuro and Joey Wild 11-8, 11-7 to reach a final at last, where Collin Johns and Len Yang await. The gold that has eluded them all year is one win away.
Two triple crown bids came into the day, and both were gone by the end of it. Shimabukuro’s ended at the hands of Goldin, though the 15-year-old still has a Mixed Doubles final to play with Sahra Dennehy. Yu-Chieh Hsieh’s collapsed entirely. She lost all three of her semifinals, beaten by Chao Yi Wang in the Women’s Singles, alongside Albie Huang in the Women’s Doubles, and with Luc Pham in the Mixed Doubles, the last of those to Dennehy and Shimabukuro.
The Women’s Singles final pairs Chao Yi Wang and Rika Fujiwara, both through in three-game thrillers. Wang edged Hsieh 6-11, 11-0, 13-11, while Fujiwara outlasted Dennehy 11-8, 9-11, 12-10. In the Women’s Doubles, Lingwei Kong and Selina Turulja meet Sophia Nhi Huynh and Ho Tam for the title. The Mixed Doubles final sends Dennehy and Shimabukuro against Huynh and Hien Truong.
Championship Sunday action gets under way Sunday, August 23 with the bronze medal playoffs at 9:00 AM (GMT+8). The finals will begin not before 2:00 PM (GMT+8).
