Athena Leung and Elly Cheng Wins GOLD at the PPA HK SLAM 2026

Hong Kong has a junior title at its biggest pickleball week.

Athena Leung Nga-lam and Elly Cheng Hiu Lam won gold in the U18 girls' doubles at the PPA Hang Seng Hong Kong Slam 2026. In the final they beat the Chinese Taipei and USA pairing of Tzu-en Chiu and Serena Chi, 15-11.

A pair with history

This wasn't a one-off partnership. Leung and Cheng were picked as Hong Kong's girls' doubles team for the 2026 Pickleball World Cup, and the Slam gold is their follow-up on home soil.

Leung, who plays both tennis and pickleball at U18 level, had already made news earlier in the week by coming through qualifying into the pro women's singles main draw at Kai Tak.

Why it matters

The Hong Kong Slam has 895 players aged 9 to 71 from 22 regions entered. A home junior title in that field shows that Hong Kong's next group of players is already winning, while most of the headlines are about the world's top pros.

Congratulations to Athena and Elly.

Photos: The Asian Dinker on Instagram.