Table of Contents

• Bristol Open recap

• Championship Sunday Schedule

• Next Up: Salt Lake City

• Watch the latest pod

• Join the Discord community

A Rainy Weekend in Tennessee

Rain delays and cancelations put a bit of a damper (pun… intended?) on some of the matches, with Friday’s mixed doubles end-of-day contests postponed and played Saturday morning.

There were also a handful of unexpected upsets and injuries in the mix. Is the grueling schedule wearing on these pros?

Here’s how it’s gone so far, and what Championship Sunday is set to look like:

Women’s Singles

• Anna Leigh was a late scratch with a reported ankle issue, so pro qualifier Alia Brown got her spot in a “lucky loser” claim. (She lost in R16 to Nicole Eugenia)

• Chao “Zoey” Yi Wang (14) made a deep run all the way to semi-finals, taking down #3 Lea Jansen in the process. She utlimately lost to Kaitlyn Christian. (Watch here)

• #2 Catherine Parenteau was knocked out early again, losing to Brooke Buckner in QF. (Watch here)

• With the top 3 women all out of contention, will we see Brooke Buckner win another gold?

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Kaitlyn Christian vs. Brooke Buckner

• Bronze - Zoey Wang vs. Salome Devidze

Men’s Singles

• Despite several interesting upsets along the way, the final 4 are all the top seeds (1-3, 5. #4 Christian Alshon withdrew due to lingering issues from his surgery a few months ago). So, kind of boring to be honest.

• Oh, the upsets? Cason Campbell (hat guy) #24 took down Rafa, #15. Grayson Goldin (bicep guy) #42 beat Julian Arnold and Jack Sock (watch this one) before falling to Ben Johns in quarters. Jack Foster (46) beat Big H, and #28 Hunter Johnson took down Dylan Frazier.

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Ben Johns vs. Federico Staksrud

• Bronze - Quang Duong vs. Tyson McGuffin

Mixed Doubles

• Ben & AL once again plowed through the competition, taking a couple pickles along the way (one over Zoey Wang & Pablo Tellez, and one over Dekel & Tina Pisnik). The most interesting thing about yet ANOTHER Ben & AL in Championship Sunday is who they face…

• …new parternship Anna Bright and Christian Alshon, who were seeded #2, showed a lot of early promise. There’s no question that they match one another in earnest desire to win, and we like their odds to topple the giants. Catch their semi-final battle with Jaume & Jackie K. (By the way - we know you’re wondering what happened to James & Anna. In the post-match interview, Anna said James was not planning to play this event in mixed, so she asked Christian “a few months ago.”)

• JW and Jorja struggled this tournament, losing in R16 to eventual medal contenders Jackie Kawamoto & Jaume Martinez Vich. This one was a fun match to watch, as the duos battled for 3 high-scoring games: 10-12, 12-10, 11-9. Replay not yet available. Follow PPA’s YouTube for release.

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Ben & AL vs. Anna & Christian

• Bronze - Dekel Bar & Tina Pisnik vs. Jaume & Jackie

Men’s Doubles

None of the gender double events have been posted on YouTube yet for replay. Follow PPA’s YouTube for release.

• Tyler paired up with Noe Khlif for the first time, and they battled valiantly. They met up with James Ignatowich and Andrei Daescu in R16, and took them to 3 nail-biting games. Two of the three went 12-10, with each team taking one. The 3rd game Tyler and Noe lost some steam and ended up going down 6-11. Still, a solid effort.

• The upset of the week has to go to Michael Loyd and Todd Fought beating JW and Dylan in R16: 11-6, 1-11, 11-9. Between this and mixed, this just doesn’t seem to be J-Dub’s weekend.

• Michael & Todd almost took down Jay & Pablo in QF, going 3 games 10-12, 11-2, 1-11. At one point in that match, Jay’s sticker came off his paddle and landed in the kitchen, causing Todd to (attempt) to call a kitchen fault/hindrance. The ref reminded him that rule was thrown out (after a similar incident with James Ignatowich in Sacramento) and the rally was replayed.

• Other surprising upsets were #24 Greg Dow & Anderson Scarpa over #3 Jaume & Tyson, and Zane & Travis (9) who lost to #18 Collin Shick & Jack Sock. Zane and Travis can be really powerful when they’re on, but you know, Collin and Jack are pretty good, too.

• Are Ben & Collin back? Despite some visible frustration, they locked in and breezed through their bracket. The biggest challenge they faced was against last week’s gold medal winners Fed & Gabe, who they beat in 3 games: 9-11, 11-8, 11-7. Will they get back to gold for the first time in 4 months?

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Ben & Collin vs. Christian Alshon & Quang Duong

• Bronze - Jay & Pablo vs. James & Andrei

Women’s Doubles

• Original PPA GOAT Simone Jardim made a lauded return after an extended PPA tour absence, and viewers, players, and commentators alike were thrilled. She partnered with Allyce Jones, who was moved to tears during one of their post-match interviews, when reflecting on how much Simone meant to her and the sport. Sadly, they lost in QF to Judit Castillo and Ewa Radzikowska

• The PPA’s favorite statistic is how Anna Leigh and Catherine Parenteau have a lifetime 101-1 record since playing together. They are virtually unstoppable. But who is that 1? Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher…. who will play them for gold this Championship Sunday. They’ve done it before, can they do it again?

• New partnership Jorja Johnson and Vivian Glozman were a fun pair to watch. After beating Lea Jansen & Tina Pisnik 11-3, 11-4, they had a thrilling 3-game matchup against Anna & Rachel. In game 3, Anna & Rachel were down 1-5, and came all the way back to beat Jorja and Viv 11-7.

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - CP & AL vs. Anna & Rachel

• Bronze - Judit Castillo & Ewa Radzikowska vs. Jorja & Vivian

Championship Sunday Schedule

Next Up: Picklr Open - Salt Lake City

It’ll be the event of the year, in Tyler’s home state, where he’ll be back to competing in all 3 events: Singles, Men’s Doubles with CG, and Mixed with Kaitlyn Christian. If you’ll be there, be sure to stick around for a special meet and greet event with Tyler & Jimmy. More details to come.

Grab your spectator tickets using the KOTC discount!

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