MENDOZA DOUBLES UP ON QUALIFYING DAY
| September 10, 2026
George Patrick Mendoza booked not one but two tickets to the main draw on the opening day of the Leapmotor Kuala Lumpur Cup 2026. The rising star out of the Philippines came up with the pickleball goods, making his way through qualifying in both singles and doubles. The wins continued the form that carried him deep into the main-draw quarterfinals at the recent Leapmotor Singapore Open.
In the singles he powered through his qualifying matches, dropping only a handful of points in an 11-5, 11-4 win over Hong Kong, China’s Owen Cheng De Kwong along the way. In the doubles, he and Christopher Encarnacion had to dig deeper, surviving a three-game qualifying quarterfinal against fellow Filipinos Nathaniel Isagan and Louie Lazaro before booking their spot.
FOLLOW TOURNAMENT ACTION
The reward for all that work is a pair of heavyweight main-draw assignments. In the Men’s Singles he lines up against Harrison Brown, a fourth-place finisher at the Capital Securities Beijing Open earlier this season. In the Men’s Doubles, he and Encarnacion have drawn #8 seeds Luc Pham and George Wall in the round of 32. Two main draws, two big names waiting.
Nok Yiu Tang put in a double shift of her own. The UPA Asia Trailblazer came through the Women’s Doubles qualifying rounds alongside Yufei Long and the Mixed Doubles rounds with Robert Stirling, reaching the semifinals in both and dropping barely a handful of points along the way. Two campaigns, two live shots at a main-draw spot, all in a day’s work.
>>> GET TICKETS NOW FOR THE LEAPMOTOR KUALA LUMPUR CUP 2026
Stirling’s day was not all smooth though. In the Men’s Doubles he ran into the story of qualifying day, a Brazilian pair lighting up Kuala Lumpur on their first appearance in Asia. Hugo Dojas and Caio Silva beat Americans Will Hsieh and Samuel Dickson 11-2, 11-8, then knocked out Stirling and Prycen Haas 11-6, 11-6 to power into the main draw. Their reward is a round of 32 meeting with AJ Koller and Quan Do, both Men’s Doubles gold medalists. The Asia debut could keep being a dream or be in for an awakening.
The main draw gets under way on Thursday, September 10 at 9:00 AM (GMT+8), with the first appearances of the likes of Gabriel Tardio and Noe Khlif, both making their Malaysia debut.
