MB Vietnam Cup 2025: Thomas Yu Stuns Top-Seeded Eric Oncins, Zoey Wang/Tyson McGuffin Surviv
Qualifier Thomas Yu had quite a day on Wednesday at the opening salvo of the MB Vietnam Cup 2025. Yu, a native of China who is now based in the US, beat two early tournament favourites, first overcoming India’s top player Armaan Bhatia, 2-1 (6-1, 11-9, 11-4), in the Round of 32 before stunning Eric Oncins, 2-1 (11-9, 3-11, 11-9), in the Round of 16.
Yu will next take on Japan’s Kenta Miyoshi in the Quarterfinals. Miyoshi, like Oncins, was already seeded into the Round of 16, where he beat Vietnam’s Nguyen Hung Anh, 2-0 (11-6, 11-5). Anh got to the Round of 16 by beating Japanese qualifier Nasa Hatakeyama, 2-0 (12-10, 0-11, 12-10).
The other Quarterfinal brackets are Mitchell Hargreaves vs. Phuc Huynh, Giang Trinh vs. Hoang Nam Ly, and Hieng Truong vs. Jack Wong Hong-kit.
Tyson McGuffin and Zoey Wang Survive, Book Quarters Spot
Over at Mixed Doubles, the highly favoured tandem of Chao Yi Wang and Tyson McGuffin narrowly defeated the pair of Len Yang and Ting Chieh Wei in the Round of 16, 2-1 (12-10, 6-11, 13-11) to cap a day full of fantastic action. Wang and McGuffin, the top seeds in Mixed Doubles, actually faced match point at 10-11 in the third game but dug deep to pull out the thriller.
“I thought we fought well,” McGuffin said of the performance. “I don’t think our overall level was super high, but sometimes you’ve just got to win matches by finding that next gear, digging your teeth in, and that’s what we did.”
McGuffin and Wang will face the pair of Ho Tam and Tama Shimabukuro in the Quarterfinals. Other Quarterfinal matchups are Nicola Schoeman/Lucas Pascoe vs. Danni-Elle Townsend/Zane Navratil, Roos Van Reek/Eric Oncins vs. Giang Trinh/Yufei Long, and Andie Dikosavljevic/Harsh Mehta vs. Alix Truong/Jonathan Truong.
Ben Johns and Dekel Bar Team Up, Make It to Quarters
In Men’s Doubles, Ben Johns and Dekel Bar teamed up to defeat the duo of Hien Truong and Quan Do, 2-0 (11-1, 11-8) to kick off their campaign with a trip to the Quarters. Johns and Bar last partnered in 2021 but didn’t seem to miss a beat after all those years.
“I’ve been excited for this tournament and partnering up with Ben again. It’s been a few years, so this is a lot of fun for me,” said Bar after the match.
Johns and Bar will face an acid test next when they take on Yu and Santosh Narayanan. Other Quarterfinal brackets in Men’s Doubles will feature Miyoshi/Pascoe vs. Bhatia/Navratil, Hong-kit/Kim Eunggwon vs. Kapadia/Mehta, and Truong/Yang vs. McGuffin/Oncins.
Wang, Kaitlyn Christian Set Up Huge Quarterfinal Matchup vs. Van Reek/Dikosavljevic
In Women’s Doubles, Wang and partner Kaitlyn Christian breezed by the duo of Sophia Nhi Huynh and Crystal Mildwaters, 2-0 (11-1, 11-2) to set up a Quarterfinal clash against the tandem of Van Reek and Dikosavljevic, who also cruised to the Quarters with a dominant 2-0 (11-1, 11-6) win of their own against Pui Long Fan and Ngoc Si.
In the same bracket as Wang/Christian are the Quarterfinal showdowns between Schoeman/Townsend and Hsiang Wen Huang/Hannah Blatt. The other bracket will see Pei-chuan Kao/Liz Truluck vs. Long/Trang Huynh-McClain and Leah Trauber/Xiao Yi Wang-Beckvall vs. Wei/Truong.
Christian, Long Set Up Much Anticipated Showdown
Over at Women’s Singles, Kaitlyn Christian and Yufei Long set up a much-anticipated Quarterfinal showdown with similar dominant wins—2-0 (11-2, 11-4) for Christian versus Kao and 2-0 (11-7, 11-3) for Long against Seina Shima. Christian, of course, is widely regarded as one of the best female pickleball pros in the US, while Long has established herself as Asia’s best on the distaff side.
The winner of Christian-Long will face the winner of the Wei vs. Truluck clash. The other Quarterfinal bracket in Women’s Singles will see Blatt taking on Van Reek and Sahra Dennehy facing off against Wang.
