Asia Open Pickleball Championships opens in Ho Chi Minh City with 1,000 athletes

More than 1,000 athletes filled the Asia Open Pickleball Championships 2026 - Fitgon Cup in Ho Chi Minh City, chasing US$55,000 in prize money and ranking points that carry far beyond one tournament. The event opened July 9 at Swin Premium Pickleball in Tân Hưng Ward and runs through July 12.

The scale matters for competitive amateurs because results count toward World Pickleball Federation rankings. Under the federation’s system, tournament wins earn points, the best 12 results make up a player’s ranking, and tiered events sit on a pathway that stretches from continent-level play to world-level tournaments. For players looking overseas, that structure turns an open draw in Vietnam into a meaningful stop on the calendar rather than a one-off showcase.

Organizers scheduled a four-day slate built around singles on July 9, mixed doubles on July 10, gender doubles on July 11 and championship finals on July 12. The venue, Swin Premium Pickleball at 555/1 Trn Xuân Son, had 26 sheltered hard courts, giving the championship the kind of capacity that can handle a field this large. AFPickleball listed registration fees of US$40 for intermediate and advanced singles, US$70 for intermediate and advanced doubles, US$60 for open professional singles and US$100 for open professional doubles, underscoring how the event bridged amateur and higher-level competition.

The draw also carried recognizable names across its Open and Amateur divisions. Phúc Hunh and Prycen Haas were among the men’s pairings, while Quang Dương and Harsh Mehta also entered the mix. In the mixed brackets, Phúc Hunh teamed with Vivian Glozman, and Lý Hoàng Nam paired with Roos Van Reek, a lineup that showed how the event blended Vietnamese standouts with international partners.

The first day produced concrete results deeper in the field as well. Phan Bo Hân beat Nguyn Minh Thư in women’s intermediate 19+ singles, Lâm Tn T defeated Ngô Hoàng Phát in men’s intermediate 19+ singles, and Duy Levi beat Tn Nguyn to win men’s intermediate 35+ singles gold. Those finishes mattered because they showed the championship’s ranking value was not limited to the headline Open matches.

This was the second time the Asia Open Pickleball Championships landed in Ho Chi Minh City. The 2024 edition drew more than 400 athletes from Asia, America, Europe and Australia, was staged at K Hòa 2 Club in District 10 and at outdoor courts in Th Đc, and saw Vietnam collect 17 gold medals. The return in 2026 pushed the event to a larger field, a bigger purse and a deeper competitive footprint across Asia.