The day started bright and early in Bristol, Tennessee as two mixed doubles semifinals needed to be completed before gender doubles started. Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters advanced in straights over Dekel Bar and Tina Pisnik. In the 2nd semifinal it was a fight to the end between Anna Bright/Christian Alshon and Jackie Kawamoto/Jaume Martinez Vich but it was Bright and Alshon that prevailed in the end 12-10 in game 3. Let’s check in to see how the gender doubles draws unfolded.
Men’s Doubles Championship: Quang Duong reaches first Championship Sunday in doubles
There was an early upset on the outer courts as Dylan Frazier and JW Johnson fell in three tight games to Todd Fought and Michael Loyd in the round of 16. It opened up the top half of the draw in a major way and it was Quang Duong and Christian Alshon who ran through it as they finished off the day defeating Pablo Tellez and Jay Devilliers 11-8, 11-8. Duong and Alshon play a very fast paced unconventional style that keeps opponents on their heels. They serve big, drive big and they love to crash and end points early. We’ll see if that style can carry them to a gold medal tomorrow.
The bottom half of the draw was loaded with heavy hitters. In the quarterfinals we got a rematch of last week’s semifinal between Federico Staksrud/Gabe Tardio and the Johns brothers. Ben and Collin were able to flip the result this go around winning in three games. Ben did a much better job of neutralizing Gabe Tardio’s attacks from the right side and forcing him into unforced errors. They followed that up with a tight two game victory over James Ignatowich and Andrei Daescu who had a good run beating Dekel Bar and the hot Hayden Patriquin in the quarterfinals.
Women’s Doubles Championship: Top seeds prevail
It was another dominant Saturday showing from the top team in the world. Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau cruised through the top section of the draw, ending their day with a nice win over Ewa Radzikowska and Judit Castillo 11-5, 11-2. They’ll be looking for their 10th gold medal of the year together on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the same cannot be said about Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher who had to battle through two tough three gamers to advance to the finals. In the quarters they faced Chao Yi Wang and Brooke Buckner and took them down 13-11 in game 3. In the semifinals they were on the ropes against Vivian Glozman and Jorja Johnson late in game 3 but reeled off nine points in a row to push them ahead, ultimately winning 11-7. They are the only team this year to defeat Waters and Parenteau so we’ll see if history repeats itself tomorrow.
On the Horizon
Championship Sunday will kick off at 11AM EST starting with men’s doubles. Make sure to tune into PickleballTV to see which Selkirk pro takes home a gold medal.
