The PPA Asia Tour landed back in Kuala Lumpur this week, and this time it really felt special.
The PPA understand that the power of their brand is driven by their stars, and the power of those players will “rub off” of the Asia tour,
So, enter Ben Johns, Anna Bright, Tyson McGuffin, Christian Alshon, Zane Navratil, and others to light up this event.
We don’t know for sure, but guess that the reception they got as they walked around 9Pickle Arena was possibly higher level than they experienced back home. Without security to protect them, they would be mobbed as crowds gather to get a glimpse of these world elite players.
It’s great to see them “off court” experiencing the event, as from their smiles and laughter, it’s clear they are genuinely enjoying their Asia trip and the attention that is coming with it.
Plaudits to PPA for getting this group of top players over to make appearances and compete because it adds value to the PPA Tour Asia Games. And as we start to see the emerging Asia pros share courts and games with these icons, their celebrity also rises, and they inch closer to becoming stars in their own right.
We don’t expect any upsets here and would be totally shocked if the likes of Johns and Alshon or Johns and Bright don’t walk away with gold. Assuming the upsets don’t come, that’s fine; we are looking for markers for how close the Asia players can get and far they have to go to reach true elite levels. This event will be an excellent “line in the sand” and hopefully motivate Asian talent to bridge that gap.
We attended the press conference where the top players assembled to give us their thoughts. As the group of pros lined up, all eyes and questions diverted towards Johns, Bright, Alshon, and McGuffin—larger-than-life characters in the pickleball world.
We asked Ben and Anna what they think are the biggest challenges they face and how they feel about the ever-increasing pool of talent that is breaking though the ranks.
Both Ben and Anna agreed the punishing schedule and travel are very challenging, but stated that it’s a double edge sword, because even though they face a tough regime, its not lost on them that at the end of the day, they are still being paid to play the sport they love.
Ben also explained that he relishes the new players coming through as it’s adding to the excitement of the sport and forces him to continue to find ways to improve his game. Likewise, Anna also loves the challenge of seeing new talent coming through, saying it motivates her even more to try to keep at the top of the game.
Even though Christian Alshon is partnering with Johns for this tournament, back in the US he competes against the pairing of Johns and Gabe Tardio, so we couldn’t resist but ask him what he needs to do to beat them.
Laughing, he told us that he usually tries body bag shots, but then conceded he hasn’t figured out the strategy to do beat them yet. He then offered his mobile number to anyone who wants to WhatsApp him with a strategy that could help him find a way to defeat them! 😊
The final words from the players’ get-together came from Anna and Ben when they were asked for any advice to improve pickleball performance.
Anna told us if you want to improve, make sure you find players better than you practice and play with (great advice). Ben told us that in the pursuit to improve, don’t forget to remember why you started pickleball in the first place, which is because we love playing—his point being to make sure you don’t get so serious you stop having fun.
It was a great parting message reminding us of the joy of pickleball, and something tells me over the next few days Mr Johns et al. will be giving pickleball fans a lot of joy as we watch them grace Malaysia’s courts.
