Draw Completed for 2026 Construction Industry Pickleball Tournament as Nearly 500 Athletes Prepare for Hanoi Showdown
The groups are set, and the countdown is on. With the draw now complete for the 2026 Construction Industry Pickleball Tournament, nearly 500 athletes know who they’ll face when the action begins on 14 November at the US Pickleball Club, 70 An Duong Street, in Hanoi.
The Draw
Construction Newspaper held the draw on the afternoon of 9 November on the sixth floor of 2 Nguyen Cong Hoan Street, Giang Vo Ward. Attending were Nguyen Thanh Tung, Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Construction Trade Union, and La Duc Hung, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Construction Newspaper and Standing Deputy Head of the Organising Committee, along with the referee team and the heads of the participating delegations.
Hung called the draw an important step in keeping the competition transparent, fair and professional. “The Organising Committee hopes that, through this ceremony and the upcoming matches, we will not only discover outstanding individuals who will win the top positions, but also strengthen solidarity, foster interaction, and spread the spirit of sportsmanship throughout the entire industry,” he said.
He also urged referees to work with the utmost objectivity, and athletes to compete in the spirit of “Sportsmanship, Solidarity, Honesty, Nobility.”
Five Events, 236 Pairs
The tournament, themed “Connecting for Success,” has five events, and every one starts with round-robin group play before moving to knockouts:
| Event | Pairs | Groups | Who advances |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s Doubles Leadership | 32 | 10 (eight of three, two of four) | 10 group winners, two runners-up from the four-team groups and the four best runners-up from the three-team groups, into the round of 16 |
| Mixed Doubles Leadership | 7 | 2 (one of three, one of four) | Top two from each group, into the semifinals |
| Men’s Doubles | 108 | 36 (three teams each) | 36 group winners and the 28 best runners-up, into the knockout stage |
| Mixed Doubles | 62 | 20 (18 of three, two of four) | 20 group winners, two runners-up from the four-team groups and the 10 best runners-up from the three-team groups, into the knockout stage |
| Women’s Doubles | 27 | 9 (three teams each) | Nine group winners and the seven best runners-up, into the round of 16 |
Athletes can check their schedules on sportconnect.vn, or through links the organisers will send to athlete groups.
How the Matches Will Be Played
Organisers have set out a format that gets tougher as the rounds go on:
- Early rounds and group stage: One game to 11 points, with players switching sides at 6.
- Quarterfinals: One game to 13, switching at 7.
- Semifinals and finals: One game to 15, switching at 8.
The tournament uses traditional side-out scoring, so only the serving side can score. The two-point rule doesn’t apply, meaning the game ends the moment a team reaches the target score.
Line calls follow the principle that any doubt goes to the opponent. Players call “out” only on their own side of the court, and should do so only if they can clearly see the gap between the ball and the line. Any ball that can’t be called out immediately is considered in.
Team Standings
There’s a team race running alongside the individual events. Teams earn three points for a first-place finish, two for second and one for third. When a winning pair includes athletes from two different teams, the points are split equally between those teams. According to the earlier tournament announcement, the top three teams overall win cash prizes of 15 million, 10 million and 6 million VND.
The Players’ View
Nguyen Van Ha, head of the Vietnam National Railway Corporation delegation, said that with the draw done, pairings within each group haven’t been fully settled, so athletes should keep training and study their opponents.
He pointed out that in the 108-pair men’s doubles, teams will need seven matches to reach the final, a test of fitness as much as skill. “The qualifying matches may not take up too much time or energy, but the further you progress, the greater the pressure becomes,” he said.
His team’s immediate goal is first place in the group, which should smooth the path through the knockouts, where “even one mistake can cause an athlete to be eliminated.” Beyond results, he said, the aim is to interact, learn and gain experience. He also credited the organisers and the national-level referees for their professionalism, and hopes the event will become an annual fixture, a bridge for cooperation between units across the construction sector.
With the draw done and the schedules out, the next stop is the court.
