Liang and Moyland upset Singapore pair to reach U.S. Smash last 16

Wild-card Americans Jishan Liang and Sally Moyland turned the U.S. Smash main draw on its head, beating Singapore’s top-15 mixed doubles pair Koen Pang and Jian Zeng 3-2 to reach the Round of 16. The five-game scoreline was 13-11, 9-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-4.

Pang and Zeng sat No. 14 in the mixed doubles rankings updated June 15. Liang entered the tournament as a host wildcard with a world ranking of No. 224 and 60 points, while Moyland came in ranked No. 65 in senior singles and No. 19 in youth at age 19.

The match swung repeatedly before Liang and Moyland closed it in the fifth. They took the opening game 13-11, dropped the second 9-11, then edged game three 12-10 and lost game four 10-12. They won the decider 11-4 after Singapore forced the fifth. Coach Mark Hazinski said they could have ended the match earlier and pointed to how well they responded when the comeback attempt came.

The match came at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, California, where the United States Smash runs from June 26 to July 5 with $1,550,000 in prize money. Moyland and Lily Zhang had already beaten teammates Amy Wang and Jessica Reyes-Lai 3-1 in their first match together. Another American mixed doubles team, Nandan Naresh and Jessica Reyes-Lai, advanced by beating Bosman Botha and Qin Yuxuan in straight games.

Liang and Moyland were next set to meet fifth-seeded Manush Shah and Diya Chitale in the Round of 16 on Monday, June 29, at 5:55 p.m. ET, with the match slated for Table 4.