MB Hanoi Cup 2026: Semis Saturday Delivers Drama, Sets Stage for Exciting Championship Sunday
Semifinal Saturday at the MB Hanoi Cup 2026 delivered everything it promised — and then some.
Hien Truong Gets His Revenge
The biggest result of the day came early. Hien Truong knocked out Men’s Singles top seed Federico Staksrud 11–7, 4–11, 11–5, avenging a bronze playoff loss to the Argentine at the Vibrant Linping Hangzhou Open 2025—same format, same two players, different outcome.
Truong took the first, weathered a second-game blitz, then pulled away in the third. Staksrud’s search for a first singles gold in Asia goes on.
Truong will now face compatriot Hoang Nam Ly in an all-Vietnamese Men’s Singles final on home soil — exactly what the Hanoi crowd came to see. Ly cruised past Dylan Frazier 11–5, 11–6 and arrives in the final as the reigning Vibrant Linping Hangzhou Open champion, looking to go back-to-back. Truong made the MB Vietnam Cup 2025 final but is still chasing his first title. One of them ends that wait on Sunday.
Top Seeds Keep Falling
Staksrud wasn’t the only top seed who didn’t make it through. Women’s Singles No. 1 Kate Fahey was next, falling to Brooke Buckner 9–11, 11–6, 11–6 in what was Buckner’s Asia debut. Buckner faces Kaitlyn Christian in Sunday’s final. Christian won the Women’s Singles title at the Panas Malaysia Cup 2025 and will be hunting a second Asian gold.
Kaitlyn Christian and Christian Alshon Settle a Score
The upsets carried into Mixed Doubles. Kaitlyn Christian and Christian Alshon knocked out No. 2 seeds Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin 11–9, 11–8 — and the result comes with history attached. Christian and Alshon made the Mixed Doubles final at the Panas Malaysia Cup 2025 together, where they lost to Bright and Ben Johns. They’ve now knocked Bright out on the way to another shot at the title.
Standing in their way: world No. 1 duo Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns, who have not lost a Mixed Doubles final together all season.
Anna Bright’s Other Shot
Bright’s Mixed Doubles run is over, but she isn’t done. Her Women’s Doubles partnership with Waters rolled past Tina Pisnik and Jessie Irvine 11–3, 11–2 and will face Tyra Hurricane Black and Catherine Parenteau in the final. The last time Bright played Women’s Doubles in Asia, she exited at the quarterfinals. She has gone further this time. One match to go.
The Final They Wanted
Men’s Doubles is set up exactly as advertised. No. 1 seeds Gabriel Tardio and Ben Johns against No. 2 seeds Hayden Patriquin and Federico Staksrud — the matchup everyone circled. Tardio and Johns barely broke a sweat in the semis, dropping just six points across two games against Dylan Frazier and Eric Oncins.
Four of the best. One court. Championship Sunday.
Gold medal matches begin no earlier than 1:00 p.m. (GMT+7).
