The last day of the Veolia Houston Open came to a close today and multiple Selkirk pros were looking to grab gold medals before they pack their bags for Los Angeles next week. Let’s take a look at all five championship matches and breakdown how they unfolded.
Men’s Singles Championship: (2) Federico Staksrud vs (10) Quang Duong
Federico Staksrud is no stranger to Championship Sunday singles matches and that experience paid dividends as he got off to a hot start against Quang Duong and never allowed him to sink his teeth into the match. Staksrud played the match on his terms, winning in convincing fashion 11-6, 11-2 to claim his 3rdsingles gold medal of the year.
Women’s Singles Championship: (2) Lea Jansen vs (19) Samantha Parker
Lea Jansen finished off her impressive singles weekend with a gold medal today over newcomer Samantha Parker 11-3, 11-2. It’s been a long wait for Jansen, who has been a singles stalwart for the past couple of years but hasn’t won a gold medal since 2021. Jansen played very strategically and forced Parker to beat her with precise passing shots, which she was unable to execute for most of the match. We’ll see if this is a springboard for her as the season progresses.
Mixed Doubles Championship: (1) Johns/Wright vs (11) Bar/Pisnik
Dekel Bar and Tina Pisnik did their best to push Ben Johns and Etta Wright but fell short losing 11-4, 11-6, 11-5. The match was much closer than the score indicated as Johns and Wright were able to extend leads late in all three games to put the match out of reach. Johns’ ability to create offense from different areas of the court and force Bar and Pisnik to hit into tight windows was the determining factor in the victory.
Mixed Doubles Championship: (1) Bright/Rohrabacher vs (4) David/Kawamoto
The ability of both Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher to beat opponents in different ways continues to make this one of the teams to beat in women’s doubles on the PPA Tour. They both can create offense and defend from anywhere and that ultimately forced Kawamoto and David into enough unforced errors to clinch the match in three games. That’s three gold medals in the last four tournaments for the former Orlando Squeeze teammates. They’ll be the favorites in LA next week as well as Catherine Parenteau and Anna Leigh Waters will be sitting that one out.
Men's Doubles Championship: (1) Johns/Johns vs (3) Staksrud/Tellez
The #1 seeds brought their best level in the final match of the day as the defeated Staksrud and Tellez 11-0, 11-2, 11-2. The #3 seeds couldn't get into their preferred patterns and the match got away from them early. They'll have to go back to the drawing board and find some answers for the next time they meet up with the Johns brothers.
