A wild one in Virginia Beach

PPA events are rarely without controversy and drama, but this one really takes the cake. Who could have predicted that ALL of these happened in one single event?

• Ben and Collin were penalized for not signaling a timeout

• The Johns bros demanded their match be suspended mid-game for “lighting” and resumed the next day (killing their opp’s momentum).

• Max Freeman made it further in men’s doubles than Ignatowich and Alshon.

• Fed lost to someone not named Ben Johns

• The Johns bros were up 2-1 only to lose in 5 games

• Hayden professed his love for Fed

It was a wild tournament - here are some highlights from each event, and games worth a rewatch:

Men’s Doubles

Men’s doubles was fairly upset-free until R16 when Riley Newman showed he’s back, by beating James Ignatowich and Christian Alshon in 3 with Rafa. Riley and Rafa were able to take a game off Ben and Collins in the semis before falling in the bronze medal match to JW and Dylan.

(Perhaps the most controversial, and surprising, moment came in quarterfinals, when Ben and Collin announced they were done playing in the middle of a match. Down 3-8 in game 2 against Dekel and Hunter, they claimed the lighting was not good and demanded the game be suspended. It’s unprecedented to have a team dictate the outcome, and not be forced to forefeit the entire match in retirement. Apparently, that’s the power the Johns brothers have. (Initially they were going to forfeit the game only, being allowed to continue the match, but due to gambling rules, that was rejected.) Refreshed and renewed the next day, they came back to pick up Game 2 where it left off (losing 3-11), then smashed Dekel and Hunter 11-0 in game 3. It’s no surprise, but this match is unavailable for re-watch on PPA’s YouTube.

But most exciting to watch was Ben & Collin losing to Fed & Hayden in 5 games, which brought Hayden to his knees of a profession of love for Fed. Watch in full here (it’s worth the hour):

Women’s Doubles

Lea and Callie reunited (they last played at the Atlanta Slam in May, where they bronze medaled) and made a solid run to finals where they fell to Mari and Jorja in the bronze medal match. No. 3 Etta & Meghan withdrew from the bracket (Etta rolled her ankle in mixed with Tyler), paving the way for Milan Rane and Alix Truong to make it to quarters. Hurricane Tyra & Allyce made a solid run to QF, taking AB & RR to 3 games (5-11,11-4,11-13).

Finals came down to, once again, AL & CP vs. AB & RR. “The Girlies” lost 2-11, 4-11, 7-11. Rewatch here:

Mixed Doubles

Another Sunday, another mostly non-competitive match of ALW & Ben vs JW & Jorja in the finals. The mixed matchup most of us excitedly anticipated for 2024 has been extremely one-sided.  The Johnsons haven’t been able to consistently have the play needed to push the best mixed team and when they have had opportunities, and they haven’t been able to close matches.

However, Riley Newman and Jackie Kawamoto treated us to three gems over the weekend. First vs Fed & RR in R16, they came back from being a game down. Then in the quarters they took out Alshon & CP in a nail-biting 3 games, lasting well over an hour and including Alshon taking a medical for possible dehydration (or poor stamina).  Finally, in the bronze medal match vs Dekel & Tina Pisnik they had another hour-long match, winning in 3 games (11-4, 9-11, 11-6). Riley rightfully credited Jackie’s clutch play as he is trying to leapfrog Hayden and Tyson for the final mixed spot for the finals.

Aside from Riley, everything else went mostly by seedings except Tyson & Jade’s loss to Collin Shick & Brooke, AB & Andrei’s loss to Julian & Lauren, and Tyler & Etta’s loss to Roscoe & Callie (although Etta’s sprained ankle impacted the outcome).

Watch the championship match here:

Women’s Singles

The most boring of the 5 disciplines went largely as predicted. The 16 matches from R16 through finals had a total of 3 matches go to 3 games. Brooke was able to take ALW to 3 games on Sunday, but ran out of steam at the end. Genie Bouchard turned heads when she took Salmone to 3 games in R16. CP lost to Zoey Wang in R16 proving that she doesn’t deserve the #2 seed that she continues to be gifted. Kate Fahey knocked out Lea in the quarters, but still needs more improvement to be a challenge for ALW.  Hopefully 2025 makes this a compelling event again with Kate, Zoey, and Kaitlyn continuing to improve, but for now if you need to save time, this is where to skip.

Men’s Singles

Hunter made it to Championship Sunday, before being easily defeated by Ben - who had already played 9 games that morning. It was an impressive performance for someone that occasionally seems tired and lethargic in later matches. Hunter didn’t even reap any benefit from withdrawals by both Alshon and McGuffin; he had to get through Dylan, Connor, AND Fed, but couldn’t find the same magic versus Ben.

As we come to the close of the season, one of the tighter races is who will make the final for men’s singles. Alshon’s continued singles withdrawals and Hunter’s recent success put the 8th spot for finals up for grabs. Hunter seems hungry for it, Jack has stalled, and Alshon may not have the physical stamina to close the year.  If Tyson also can’t perform for the finals, it would allow Jack or maybe Chris Haworth to sneak in (with a deep run in Vegas or Worlds).

P.S. Keep an eye on 17-year-old high school junior, John Lucian Goins. This was his first PPA event, having played only APP events this year. After a pass to R32 when Noe Khlif withdrew, he beat Grayson Goldin 11-2, 11-4 and played Ben Johns in the R16 (where he lost 4-11, 9-11). Not too shabby!

Watch the finals match here: