QUALIFIERS SET THE STAGE ON DAY ONE IN HANOI

The MB Hanoi Cup 2026 is officially underway and Vietnam made sure the home crowd had plenty to cheer about on day one.

All four Men’s Singles qualifying spots went to Vietnamese players as Pham Xuanvu, Giang Trinh, Hien Truong and Nguyen Hoang all punched their tickets to Thursday’s main draw. Trinh, Truong and Hoang all came through in straight games. Pham had the tightest battle of the four, needing three games to get past UPA Asia Rising Star Timothy Foo 11-5, 11-13, 11-7. Foo had already taken out Panas Malaysia Open 2025 silver medalist Vanshik Kapadia in the previous round, but Pham put an end to the dream run.

Canada’s day in Women’s Singles

On the women’s side, it was Canada that stole the show. Jada Bui and Louise Kwong both qualified to make main draw appearances in Hanoi. Bui arrives with three PPA Challenger singles titles already to her name stateside and is looking to get the ball rolling in Asia. She will be one to watch when Thursday’s action kicks off.

From finals opponents to doubles partners

One of the more intriguing storylines out of qualifying: Giang Trinh and Vanshik Kapadia have teamed up as a first-time Men’s Doubles partnership. The pair started their PPA Tour Asia journeys on opposite sides of the net in the Panas Malaysia Open 2025 Men’s Singles final. Now they’re sharing one.

They locked up a main draw spot together. A full-circle moment to open 2026.

Mixed Doubles upset

In Mixed Doubles qualifying, Leander Lazaro and Sarah Jane Lim delivered the upset of the day, knocking out Connie Lee and Luc Pham 11-3, 11-9. On paper, it shouldn’t have been that comfortable. Pham was recently drafted to MLP in the States, and Lee is no stranger to the big stage — she took home silver in Mixed Doubles at the Hong Kong Open 2025 alongside Giang Trinh. Lazaro and Lim weren’t reading the script.

Up next

Main draw action gets underway at 8:00 AM (GMT+7) on April 2, with the Round of 32 and Round of 16 played out across all Pro events.