Panas Kuala Lumpur Open 2026: Jimmy Liong Leads Charge of Underdogs as Seeds 2 Thru 4 Stunned in Men’s Singles
Three of the top four Men’s Singles seeds in the Panas Kuala Lumpur are gone. The bracket is in pieces. And Jimmy Liong has the home crowd on their feet.
Day 2 of the Panas Kuala Lumpur Open 2026 was the kind of afternoon that rewrites draws and reshuffles expectations—a round of 16 that eliminated seeds No. 2, 3, and 4 in succession and left only Hien Truong standing at the top of the Men’s Singles bracket.
The carnage began with No. 2 seed Jack Wong Hong-Kit, the five-time singles medallist, falling to Nasa Hatakeyama, 11-8, 7-11, 5-11. Hatakeyama had stormed through qualifying on Day 1 without dropping a sweat. He carried that momentum straight into the round of 16 and never let Wong settle.
Then came the result the home crowd wanted. No. 4 seed Kenta Miyoshi ran into Jimmy Liong—and Liong, the last Malaysian standing in the draw, was not in a giving mood. He defended his home turf 11-6, 4-11, 11-4, sending Miyoshi packing and the crowd into full voice. Liong is still chasing the podium finish that slipped away from him at last season’s Panas Malaysia Open on these very same courts. He is getting closer.
The biggest shock, though, belonged to Nguyen Hung Anh.
The Vietnamese qualifier—who won three matches in a single day just 24 hours earlier—dismantled No. 3 seed Tama Shimabukuro, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9, in a marathon encounter that had Shimabukuro scrambling to every corner of the court. Shimabukuro, 15, had recently reached the Men’s Singles final at the Veolia Atlanta Slam in the United States. His triple crown bid in Kuala Lumpur is over before it ever truly began.
That leaves Truong—the No. 1 seed and Men’s Singles top dog—as the sole survivor of the top four. He looked every bit the part, dismantling Marco Leung, 11-3, 11-4, in a statement performance. His maiden singles gold remains firmly in his sights.
Shimabukuro Survives Elsewhere
Eliminated from singles, Shimabukuro regrouped quickly in the doubles events. He and Armaan Bhatia cruised through the Men’s Doubles round of 16 11-5, 11-5 over Maleganeas/Chung. In Mixed Doubles, Shimabukuro and Alix Truong found themselves staring at a first-game bagel—losing 0-11 to Huynh and Hien Truong—before rallying to take it 0-11, 11-6, 11-9. The triple crown is gone. The doubles run is very much alive.
Sawaki Pushes Wang to the Edge
If Nguyen Hung Anh’s upset was the day’s headline, Kei Sawaki’s near-miss was its most compelling subplot.
The 15-year-old Japanese qualifier—fresh off her comeback win over Pei-Yu Lai on Day 1—drew the stiffest possible assignment in the Women’s Singles round of 16: No. 1 seed Chao Yi Wang, world No. 7. Sawaki took the first game 11-5. Wang levelled with 11-6 in the second. The decider went to 11-9 in Wang’s favour—with Sawaki two points from one of the tournament’s most stunning upsets.
From qualifier to within two points of a top-10 scalp in the space of 24 hours. It was the kind of loss that stings precisely because she was so close—but also the kind of performance that puts the rest of the draw on notice.
Sawaki’s tournament continues through Women’s Doubles, where she and Xiao Yi Wang-Beckvall beat Ho Tam and past Asia silver medallist Sarah Burr in three games, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6.
The quarterfinals begin later today at 8 a.m. (GMT+8).
