The 2015 SMASH BASH BADMINTON DOUBLES TOURNAMENT

Alex Liang (foreground) with Dean Schoppe (left) and Yuko Kawasaki (right) in pilot Jim Thatcher's small plane as they prepared to fly to Arizona for the Smash Bash.

September 5, 2015, Mesa... The 2015 SMASH BASH featured smoking hot competition in six events: Open Women Doubles, Jr/Sr Women Doubles, Open Men Doubles, Jr/Sr Men Doubles, Open Mixed and Jr/Sr Mixed Doubles. The purpose of the tournament for more than 20 years has been to provide an event where both adult and high school players compete in the same tournament so that local high school players can see higher level play during their AIA season.

The star player had to be Alex Liang visiting from California where he is a long-time, highly respected coach at the San Gabriel Valley Badminton Club. With outstanding shot-making and court coverage he won both the Open Men Doubles with Dean Schoppe of CA, and the Open Mixed Doubles with Yuko Kawasaki of CA. The Open Women Doubles champions were locals Karen Guo and Ellie Millon. A list of all the event winners is as follows:

Open Women Doubles: Guo/Millon; OWD-Cons: C. Davis/M. Shrikant; Jr/Sr WD: C. & J. Davis; Jr/Sr WD-Cons: Mehling/Wong

Open Men Doubles: Liang/Schoppe; OMD-Cons: Glazeski/Singarajah; Jr/Sr MD: Hartojo/Lee; Jr/Sr MD-Cons: Ang/Koka

Open Mixed Doubles: Liang/Kawasaki; OMX-Cons: Koka/Guo; Jr/Sr MX: Patel/Mehling; Jr/Sr MX-Cons: Thatcher/Foltz