The April PPA tournament schedule is jam packed. The pros just finished up the North Carolina Cup last week and will be playing in Los Angeles and St George following the conclusion of this week’s tournament in Houston. It means some notable names may be missing in action this month and today a few of those names included Catherine Parenteau and Anna Leigh Waters. With two household names on the sidelines let's see who was able to emerge from the pack and secure their spot on Championship Sunday.
Men’s Singles Championship: (10) Quang Duong vs (2) Federico Staksrud
Anyone that has watched Quang Duong this year has seen the incremental improvements in his game. Knock on the door long enough and eventually you are going to breakthrough and today was that day for Duong. After dismantling Michael Loyd and Yates Johnson he slayed the giant that is Ben Johns 11-5, 11-9. Quang had chances against Ben in North Carolina and beat him at the Hyundai Masters in January so these two are very familiar with each other. He out executed the #1 seed at the end of game 2 and followed up the upset with a win over Jaume Martinez Vich 11-4, 11-3.
On the opposite side of the draw, it was business as usual for Federico Staksrud who is into his 7th singles final of the year. His only losses of the year come at the hands of Ben Johns and Dylan Frazier so Quang Duong will have to rise to occasion and play his best pickleball on Sunday. It should be a great final between two great movers and ball strikers so make sure to tune in.
Women’s Singles Championship: (19) Samantha Parker vs (2) Lea Jansen
Samantha Parker is fairly unknown but she put the field on notice early in the day by defeating #1 seed Mary Brascia in three games. She backed it up with wins over Martina Frantova and Lacy Schneemann to stamp her ticket to Sunday. Her opponent will be none other than Lea Jansen, who has been on the top of singles game for quite some time but is still looking for that singles gold medal to add her to resume after so many close losses in finals. Jansen will be the heavy favorite but Parker has nothing to lose and sometimes that can be the scariest type of opponent to face.
On the Horizon
Mixed doubles kicks off tomorrow morning at 12PM EST. Tune into the PPA’s YouTube Channel and Pickleball TV for coverage of grandstand and championship court.
