IN A PICKLE NO MORE: TARDIO AND KHLIF SURVIVE SCARE
| September 11, 2026
Gabriel Tardio and Noe Khlif stared down a possible pickle in their first match on Malaysian soil. The top seeds trailed 10-0 in the opening game of their Men’s Doubles clash at the Leapmotor Kuala Lumpur Cup 2026, staring at the dreaded prospect of losing a game to zero. They scraped a few points on the board to avoid the pickle, but still dropped the opener 3-11.
Then everything changed. The World No.2 and the MLP champion found another gear, and from there it was one-way traffic. Tardio and Khlif stormed through the next two games 11-5, 11-1 against Pengsu Yong and hometown hope Syed Uzair Sufi to complete the turnaround.
A quarterfinal against Luc Pham and George Wall is next on the agenda. Pham has been in form in Asia of late, taking deep runs in all three disciplines. Meanwhile Wall is fresh of a round of 16 Men’s Doubles appearance at the Veolia Pickleball National Championships in the USA. A slow start next round for the top seeds in the next round could sure make things spicy.
FOLLOW TOURNAMENT ACTION
There was plenty for the home crowd to cheer too. Jimmy Liong Kai Long flew the Malaysian flag in the Men’s Singles, coming out on top of an all-Malaysian meeting with Er Yang Khoo 11-2, 11-9. His reward is a marquee one: a round of 16 clash with 15-year-old #3 seed Tama Shimabukuro.
The seeds largely held firm in the Men’s Doubles, with #2 Augustus Ge and Len Yang and #4 Eunggwon Kim and Hong Kit Wong both advancing in straight games. In the Women’s Doubles, though, the #4 seeds Kaitlyn Christian and Allyce Jones were sent packing, edged 12-10, 12-10 by Nok Yiu Tang and Yufei Long in a tight one.
Friday brings some popcorn showdowns. Liong and Shimabukuro headline a stacked Men’s Singles round of 16, while Khlif turns his attention to singles against qualifier Jose Maria Pague. Tardio’s bid for two titles rolls into the Men’s Doubles quarterfinals, and there is a heavyweight last-eight meeting brewing between #2 Ge and Yang and AJ Koller and Quan Do. That’s three Asia Men’s Doubles gold medallists on one court.
In the Women’s Singles, top seed Kaitlyn Christian faces a tricky test against Nok Yiu Tang, the same player who, alongside Yufei Long, knocked Christian out of the Women’s Doubles just a day earlier. A chance for Christian, the Panas Malaysia Cup from 2025, to settle the score, or for Tang to make it two in two days.
Play continues Friday, September 11 at 9:00 AM (GMT+8) with the round of 16 and quarterfinals.
