Dreams really do come true at the Selkirk Labs Showdown, as we got to see the top pros in the world battling it out with unique partnerships and matchups, all on a beautiful Selkirk red and gray court.
Friday showcased extremely high-level pickleball with matchups we never thought imaginable until this weekend. Thanks Selkirk! Here are the awesome alliances we have seen so far:
- Dream partnerships: Ben Johns/Federico Staksrud; Jay Devilliers/Lucy Kovalova; Jeff Warnick/Anna Leigh Waters
- Partners turned enemies: Jay Devilliers vs Jessie Irvine; Tyson McGuffin vs Leigh Waters; Lea Jansen vs Catherine Parenteau
- Old partnerships rekindled: Ben Johns/Jessie Irvine; Tyson McGuffin/Catherine Parenteau
Highlights
Ben Johns returned after a 2-month hiatus and showed the pickleball faithful that he should still be the number 1-ranked player, despite the new standings suggesting otherwise. He went 3-1 in mixed play, with signature wins playing alongside Lucy Kovalova and Jessie Irvine. He also went 2-1 in men’s doubles.
Selkirk’s own Tyson McGuffin, came out electric in mixed doubles, going undefeated and putting on a show in the process. Then, the number 1-ranked singles player, went 2-1 in men’s doubles, showing he has many events up his sleeve.
Only 2 other players went undefeated in mixed doubles: Leigh Waters and Anna Leigh Waters. Despite the tournament separating the Waters, they kept their winning tradition alive. However, it was a slightly different story in women’s doubles with daughter, Anna Leigh, going 2-1 and mother, Leigh, going 1-2.
The only competitor coming out of gender doubles undefeated was Canadian, Catherine Parenteau. She had victories with Leigh Waters, Meghan Dizon and her regular women’s partner, Lea Jansen.
The highly anticipated Jeff Warnick/Matt Wright matchup was a little underwhelming. Fans were expecting fireworks, as the last time they encountered each other on-court was a verbal war. They played against each other 4 times Friday, but kept it relatively amicable. They also teamed up against Collin Johns and Ryan Sherry, winning a tight one 15-13.
Biggest Win: Tyler Loong/Ben Newell beating Tyson McGuffin/Patrick Smith 15-0
Closest Game: Tyson McGuffin/Tyler Loong over Ben Newell/Patrick Smith 15-14
Format:
The 24 top pros (12 men and 12 women) were separated into 3 groups of 8 players, where they competed in a round robin style format, to determine seeding for the semi-finals on Saturday. It was 1 game to 15 points, win by 1 point, meaning every point and rally was extremely significant.
Each group competed in 2 different events: mixed and gender doubles. Thus, each event was scored independently from the other.
In each mixed doubles group of 8, both men and women were seeded upon completion between numbers 1-4. Both 1 seeds, (the men’s 1-seed and the women’s 1-seed) will team up with each other on Saturday. Both 2 seeds, 3 seeds and 4 seeds will do the same.
For gender doubles the top 2 seeds of each group will partner up for Saturday, as will the 2 bottom seeds.
Teams for Saturday
12 Mixed Teams
- 1-seed teams: Ben Johns/Jessie Irvine; Tyson McGuffin/Leigh Waters; Collin Johns/Anna Leigh Waters
- 2-seed teams: Federico Staksrud/Allyce Jones; Tyler Loong/Catherine Parenteau; Jeff Warnick/Cierra Gaytan-Leach
- 3-seed teams: Jay Devilliers/Lucy Kovalova; Patrick Smith/Meghan Dizon; Matt Wright/Callie Smith
- 4-seed teams: Callan Dawson/KaSandra Gehrke; Ben Newell/Lea Jansen; Ryan Sherry/Yana Grechkina
12 Gender Doubles Teams
Men’s doubles
- 1 & 2 seeds: Ben Johns/Jay Devilliers; Tyson McGuffin/Ben Newell; Matt Wright/Collin Johns
- 3 & 4 seeds: Federico Staksrud/Callan Dawson; Tyler Loong/Patrick Smith; Jeff Warnick/Ryan Sherry
Women’s doubles
- 1 & 2 seeds: Lucy Kovalova/Jessie Irvine; Catherine Parenteau/Leigh Waters; Anna Leigh Waters/Callie Smith
- 3 & 4 seeds: Allyce Jones/KaSandra Gehrke; Lea Jansen/Meghan Dizon; Cierra Gaytan-Leach/Yana Grechkina
Where to Watch:
Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m PT on the tennis channel, gender doubles will be underway.
4 p.m. will start the mixed doubles bracket on Selkirk TV and PPA TV.
All these matches will be best 2 out of 3.
