Christian rallies past Buckner for Hanoi Cup women’s singles gold

Kaitlyn Christian turned a lost final into the signature comeback of Championship Sunday, saving two match points against Brooke Buckner before taking women’s singles gold 7-11, 14-12, 11-9 at the MB Hanoi Cup. Buckner had led 8-2 in the second game and stood one point from the title twice, at 11-10 and 12-11, but Christian answered both times and then closed with the final seven points of the match to claim her second PPA Tour Asia singles crown.

That finish mattered beyond one trophy because it showed why Hanoi carried bracket weight all week. Christian had already come through a three-game semifinal against Chao Yi Wang, and her latest rescue act fit the profile of a player who brings a full tennis pedigree into the biggest points. The former USC doubles champion, who turned pro in 2023 and once reached No. 38 in the world in tennis, looked every bit the pressure player when the title was on the line.

The home crowd got its own defining moment in men’s singles, where Hoang Nam Ly beat Hien Truong 11-5, 11-6 to take back-to-back PPA Tour Asia singles golds. Ly’s path through the draw had already changed the tone of the tournament when he knocked out Christian Alshon 12-10, 0-11, 12-10 in a thriller that sent the crowd into overdrive. An all-Vietnamese final in Hanoi made the result more than a local celebration. It suggested that the country’s top men are no longer just making appearances at the biggest stops, they are beginning to shape them.

The rest of the final day reinforced that hierarchy at the top of the sport. Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright extended their extraordinary run in women’s doubles, beating Tyra Black and Catherine Parenteau 11-7, 11-5 for their 18th gold medal together without a final loss. Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio followed with a men’s doubles title after opening with an 11-0 game, dropping the second 7-11, then finishing 11-6. Johns now owns 123-plus PPA Tour titles and 21 Triple Crowns, which is why even a stop in Asia still felt like a stage for the sport’s biggest names.

The scale matched the results. The event ran April 1-5 at My Dinh Indoor Athletics Arena in Hanoi, with 1,000 PPA points on offer, more than 3,000 seats in the venue and a completed field of 785 players. PPA Tour Asia said it was the first time world-class pro pickleball had landed in Vietnam’s capital, and the five finals on Sunday backed that up. With MB continuing as title sponsor for the third consecutive time and total prize money reported at US$300,000, Hanoi did more than crown winners. It sharpened the tour’s map, lifted the locals who could handle pressure and set up the next Asia stops in Kuala Lumpur, Macao, Tokyo, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City with clearer contenders already in view.