Johnson With The Double Double And A Paddle Controversy At The Professional Pickleball Association OGIO Newport Beach Shootout

The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) held a shootout this past weekend, returning to a favored venue in Newport Beach for the second time in 6 months to hold the OGIO Newport Beach Shootout. The event came about once the PPA-contracted players and the tour determined that its players would not be eligible to play the US Open and chose to do a doubles-only format instead of its normal singles and doubles slate.

As it turned out, it was quite an action-packed weekend, full of massive upsets, controversial events, multiple fines, and disqualifications. Read on for the drama.

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Men’s Pro Doubles Recap

Right out of the gate, a shocker in the Men’s Pro Doubles draw, as the Johns brothers were upset in the round of 16 by Ben Newell & Phillip Locklear 10,4. It is the first loss the team has taken in 2023, their first loss since the Nov 2022 final, and it wasn’t even that close. This loss opened the door from the topside of the bracket for the #4 seeds Dylan Frazier & JW Johnson to advance to the gold medal match without having to go through the Johns brothers, and they did so, topping the surprising #24 seeds Garrett Whitehead & Gabriel Tardio in the semis.

The bottom half featured two familiar faces in #2 Matt Wright and Riley Newman, who have medaled in every event they’ve played together dating to September 2022. The two veterans advanced to the final by taking out the upset minded #11 seeds Federico Staksrud & Pablo Tellez in the semis.

In the final, Frazier & Johnson won their second gold medal of the season (the first being in Minnesota) by taking a tight three-game victory over Wright & Newman 10,8,10.

Gold: Frazier & Johnson. Silver: Wright & Newman. Bronze: Staksrud & Tardio

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Women’s Pro Doubles Recap

The #1 seeded team of Lucy Kovalova & Callie Smith to advantage of the absent Anna Leigh Waters to cruise through the top half without dropping a game and secure their spot in the gold medal match. They topped the #5 seeds Lina Padegimaite & Lacy Schneemann in the semis.

However, the story of this draw, and this tournament really, is how Padegimaite & Schneemann even ended up in the semis. The team had lost its quarter final to the veteran team of Sarah Ansboury & Jill Braverman on the court, but then a paddle challenge resulted in their default. What’s curious about this paddle challenge is this: the paddle in question (Ansboury’s Gamma paddle) was checked and validated BEFORE the match started. Therefore, the default is based on accumulated wear and tear on a paddle that occurred within one match. Per the PPA’s press release, “Ansboury’s paddle was found to have degraded over the official limitations and, as such, was no longer legal.” Do we believe that one game of pickleball is enough to turn a compliant paddle into a non-compliant one? Apparently so. The testing methodology is apparently precise enough that Ansboury “received an official warning that, with the current manufacturing standards, her paddle had a high likelihood of crossing the legal threshold during the next match.” And she choose to risk it. I’m guessing that’s the last time a pro ignores such advice ahead of a match.

From the bottom half, an early upset of the #2 seeds Lea Jansen & Allyce Jones opened the door for #3 Anna Bright & Andrea Koop to advance to the finals. Jansen was smack in the middle of the paddle controversy from the previous PPA event, having challenged the paddle quite publicly of controversial opponent Salome Devidze and then going on the Navratil/Wilson podcast with an honest, no-holds-barred commentary on that match and the events that transpired leading up to that event. Devidze (who was not present in Newport Beach) reported on social media that her paddle came back from testing and was NOT delaminated, which really calls into question the entire affair.

In the final, Kovalova & Smith came from a game down to take the title over Bright & Koop. it is Kovalova & Smith’s 2nd gold of 2023 and their 8th in the last two seasons, cementing their status as the #2 team behind whoever happens to be playing with ALW each week.

Gold: Kovalova & Smith. Silver: Bright & Koop. Bronze: Grechkina & Stratman.

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Mixed Pro Doubles Recap

The Mixed doubles draw featured more shocks and upsets, which included the #1 seeded Ben Johns-led mixed team (playing this weekend with Andrea Koop) losing outside of the medal round for the first time in quite a while. The team that did the deed was the 12th seeded team of Tyson McGuffin and Lacy Schneemann, who toppled the #1, #4 and #5 seeds en-route to the gold medal match. Johns & Koop rebounded to claim the Bronze, a surprise given that lately Johns has been forfeiting out of the back draw (indeed, he did so in the Men’s doubles earlier in the event when he and Collin lost in the 16s).

From the bottom side, the brother-sister combo of Jorja & J.W. Johnson continue to climb up the ranks with impressive results, taking out the #2 and #3 seeds to get to the finals themselves. There, Jorja claimed her first ever PPA gold medal with a two-game win. Meanwhile, J.W. got himself a “double double” for the weekend, taking both the Men’s and Mixed titles.

Gold: Johnson & Johnson. Silver: McGuffin & Schneemann. Bronze: Koop & Johns.

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Senior Pro Competition Quick Recap

There was just one Senior pro event competed in Newport this weekend:

· Men’s Senior Pro Doubles: Texan David Booth teamed up with Mills Miller to take the small senior pro doubles draw as the #1 seeds.

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Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule … the APP is in action this weekend in Sacramento. The PPA returns the first weekend of May in Charlotte for an intriguing event that features the pro debut of US Tennis great Jack Sock. More to come in this space about Sock’s pickleball debut.