Panas Kuala Lumpur Open 2026: Season 1 UPA Asia Trailblazers Whip Season 2 Counterparts
The old guard sent a message on Day 1 of the Panas Kuala Lumpur Open 2026. It was loud and clear.
Season 1 UPA Asia Trailblazers went 3-for-3 against their Season 2 counterparts in Men’s Singles qualifying and the Round of 32—a clean sweep that set the tone for what promises to be a wide-open tournament at the 9Pickle courts.
The most compelling of those results belonged to Jimmy Liong. The Malaysian beat compatriot Syed Uzair Sufi 11-3, 12-10 in an all-home-soil affair, and the significance of the win runs deeper than the scoreline. Liong lost the bronze medal playoff at the Panas Malaysia Open 2025 on these very same courts—a result that has clearly stayed with him. He is now the last Malaysian standing in the Men’s Singles draw, carrying the weight of the home crowd and chasing the podium finish that slipped away from him last season.
Aryaan Bhatia’s win was less tidy but arguably more impressive. The 2025 Trailblazer alumni dropped the first game to Season 2 Rising Star Timothy Foo, 10-12, then promptly dismantled him. Bhatia took games two and three 11-2, 11-2—a ruthless reversal that left little room for argument.
Marco Leung completed the sweep, eliminating Season 2 Trailblazer Colin Wong 11-7, 11-5 in the Round of 32. It was a tough afternoon for Wong on home soil—though not a total loss. He and partner Estareja regrouped to advance in Men’s Doubles with an 11-8, 11-9 win over Vietnamese pair Hoan/Anh.
That same Vietnamese duo, however, had already made noise elsewhere.
Hoan and Anh knocked out Zane Navratil and Mitchell Hargreaves in the qualifying quarterfinals 11-7, 14-12—one of the bigger shocks of the day. Navratil carries a Men’s Doubles silver and a bronze from his Cup appearances in Asia, but with a new partner in Kuala Lumpur, the American never found his footing. The Vietnamese pair punished him for it.
Sawaki Turns the Tables
If Navratil’s exit was the day’s biggest upset, 15-year-old Kei Sawaki’s run through Women’s Singles qualifying was its best story.
The Japanese teenager came from a game down to beat Pei-Yu Lai 4-11, 11-3, 12-10—a complete reversal of their previous meeting. At the Panas Malaysia Open 2025, Lai dispatched Sawaki 11-7, 11-7 without breaking a sweat. This time, Sawaki absorbed the first-game drubbing, dominated the second, then held her nerve through a 12-10 decider to flip the head-to-head and book her Round of 32 spot.
The Rest of the Field
Elsewhere, Hien Truong looked every bit the No. 1 seed in Men’s Singles. He and Huynh demolished Azhar/Shaharudin 11-3, 11-4 in Mixed Doubles—sharp, unhurried, and showing no signs of rust heading into Thursday’s main draw.
Nguyen Hung Anh had the grittier path, coming from a game down to beat American Jace Morris, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6. He won three matches on the day to reach the Round of 32. Nasa Hatakeyama was even more efficient—dropping just 7 points across two qualifying matches before beating Hsieh Chen-An 11-7, 12-10 in the Round of 32.
