A lot is going on in the pro pickleball world but there was still a tournament to be played today in Kansas City. Mixed doubles has turned into one of the more exciting events in all of pro pickleball due to the development of both old and new talent which is creating compelling matchups from round 1 all the way to Championship Sunday. Let’s dive into the results and breakdown what we saw out on the court.
Mixed Doubles Championship: (1) Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs (2) Riley Newman/Jessie Irvine
The top two seeds made it through to Championship Sunday and this will be the second time these teams will face off in a final in 2023. The first go around went to Johns/Waters all the way back at the Hyundai Masters back in January. Newman/Irvine went their separate ways but have renewed their partnership and it has seen some nice early returns with a bronze medal in Brigham City last week.
(1) Johns/Waters had to battle in the round of 16 vs two of the sport’s rising stars (17) Alshon/Tyra Black as they won in three tight games 11-4, 9-11, 11-5. It was smooth sailing from there as they found their top form against (9) Arnold/Dizon winning 11-1, 11-2 and (13) Rettenmaier/Kawamoto 11-6, 11-4.
(2) Newman/Irvine took out (15) Navratil/Jackie Kawamoto comfortably in the round of 16 11-2, 11-4. In the QF they faced former New Jersey 5s MLP teammates Hayden Patriquin and Lea Jansen. Game 1 was extremely tight and could have gone either way but it was Newman/Irvine that pulled it out 11-9 before cruising in game 2 11-2. In the SF they met (30) Tardio/Rane who def (3) McGuffin/Parenteau (14) Pat Smith/Tereschenko and (11) Frazier/Koop earlier in the day. After a relatively easy game 1 they were tested in game 2 as the hands of the young buck Tardio came alive. They ended up escaping 15-13 to stamp their ticket to Sunday.
Other Notable Performances
(28) Brendon Long/Bobbi Oshiro made a QF by beating (12) Bar/Callie Smith and (5) Johnson/Johnson
(13) Rettenmaier/Jade Kawamoto made a SF by beating (4) Bright/Ignatowich
On the Horizon
Gender doubles kicks off tomorrow bright and early. McGuffin/Ignatowich are a team to watch as they look to make back-to-back Championship Sundays on the bottom half of the draw. On the top half Ben Johns will play his first tournament in men’s doubles this year without his brother Collin who is sidelined with an injury. He will team up with former partner Matt Wright and they will be a very dangerous out. Once again, all the action will be streamed on Amazon Prime. If you can’t catch it stay tuned for our recap article that will drop tomorrow evening.
