PPA Tour Finals: Preview and Predictions

On Thursday, November 30th, the CIBC Finals begin in San Clemente. This is the last stop on the PPA Tour for the 2023 year.

Although we only learned about the finals a few months ago, the culmination of the PPA season should be very compelling!

Here is how to find the streams of the games on each day. The PPA Tour does a great job of keeping this super simple (not).

The format of this tournament is a round of pool play followed by a medal round. The winner of Pool 1 will play the runner up from Pool 2 and vice versa in a semi-finals. The winners of those will play in the finals.

Women’s Doubles

Pool 1:

Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau
Allyce Jones/Etta Wright
Meghan Dizon/Jorja Johnson
Jessie Irvine/Lacy Schneemann

Pool 2:

Anna Bright/Vivienne David
Callie Smith/Lucy Kovalova
Lea Jansen/Jade Kawamoto
Yana Newell/Irena Tereschenko

Catherine and Anna Leigh Waters HAVE NOT LOST this year at all and have gone 50-0 overall. So in Pool 1, I have them winning.

Etta hasn’t been playing a ton lately and Allyce doesn’t bring enough firepower to get them over the edge. I think the battle for second place comes down to Schneemann/Irvine vs. Dizon/Johnson.

Lacy has been very up and down this year and she can definitely play a dominating left side in women’s. I like them to take second place in Pool 1.

Pool 2 is really fun and way more open.

The favorite has to be Anna Bright and Viv David, but only slightly. I think Lea and Jade make a great one two combo and could really make some noise.

Lucy and Callie just got a silver in the Hertz Gold Cup. Tereschenko and Newell will probably finish last in this pool. I think Bright/David finish first, with Lucy and Callie finishing second.

I see this one ending with Catherine/ALW vs. Bright/David in the finals. To cap off their completely undefeated year, ALW and CP win the whole thing.

Women’s Singles

Pool 1:

Anna Leigh Waters
Mary Brascia
Lauren Stratman
Judit Castillo

Pool 2:

Catherine Parenteau
Lea Jansen
Irina Tereschenko
Yana Newell

I think Anna Leigh and Mary make it out of pool play, fairly easily. While Castillo is a force to be reckoned with, her inconsistencies won’t let her go on. Stratman hasn’t had the results she wants recently.

In Pool 2, it will be super interesting to see Jansen playing singles again. Newell has been great this year in singles. She may be able to upset a player or two.

In a very large upset, I think Catherine actually beats ALW in the finals. I know this is not likely, but I am rooting for the underdog here.

Catherine had Anna Leigh on the ropes in Dallas in Nationals, and now I think she finally gets the win.

Mixed Doubles

Pool 1:

Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns
Anna Bright/James Ignatowich
Catherine Parenteau/Thomas Wilson
Tyson McGuffin/Lea Jansen

Pool 2:

Riley Newman/Vivienne David
Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson
Jessie Irvine/Dylan Frazier
Lucy Kovalova/Matt Wright

We have some new and fun exciting partnerships for mixed doubles. Riley chose Viv David, Catherine Parenteau chose Thomas Wilson, and in an ironic turn of fate, Tyson chose Lea Jansen.

In Pool 1, obviously Ben and Anna Leigh make it through to the semis. The battle between Anna Bright/James Ignatowich and Catherine/Thomas Wilson will probably decide who takes the other spot. I have AB/Iggy getting the second spot from Pool 1.

In Pool 2, Riley and Viv are the favorites. After that, I think it’s anyone’s game. The four guys in this pool are known to have extremely fast hands.

I am very confident that the Riley and Matt matchup will have some fireworks. The Johnsons edge out the group, getting the second spot in Pool 2.

I just don’t see Ben and Anna Leigh losing this one. Anna Bright and James beat Riley and Viv in the semis and take a game off Ben and Anna Leigh, but eventually lose in the finals.

Men’s Doubles

Pool 1:

Ben Johns/Collin Johns
Matt Wright/James Ignatowich
Tyson McGuffin/Dekel Bar
Julian Arnold/AJ Koller

Pool 2:

JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier
Riley Newman/Thomas Wilson
Federico Staksrud/Pablo Tellez
DJ Young/Jay Devilliers

Tyson and Dekel are rumored to be a new 2024 partnership, so we get a little sneak preview of how they might play together. In addition, Matt and James are also going to be partners in 2024.

In Pool 1, Ben and Collin will win, and Matt and James will finish in second. In Pool 2, Riley and Thomas and JW and Dylan make it through to the semis.

I think an epic rematch of the most common gold medal battles this year would be amazing. JW Johson/Dylan Frazier versus Ben and Collin should be the way the PPA Tour men’s finals ends.

Ben and Collin take it down, while losing a game to JW and Dylan.

Men’s Singles

Pool 1: Ben Johns Connor Garnett Christian Alshon Jay Devilliers

Pool 2: Federico Staksrud Tyson McGuffin JW Johnson Pablo Tellez

Men’s Singles has been the most tumultuous event this year, and it’s not even close. We have had multiple seeds higher than 20 win tournaments or get silver - think Gabe Joseph, Aanik Lohani, and Chris Haworth.

This group of eight is crazy skilled and this should be really fun to watch the drama unfold.

In Pool 1, I am taking Ben and Connor. Christian and Connor played men’s doubles together recently, and on the guys' side, I think they made the largest leaps forward during 2023.

Their match together will determine who goes through, because everyone is going to beat Jay.

Pool 2 is tricky because Fed has not been playing well recently in singles. JW just won Nationals wearing his cow pants.

Tyson has been dominating singles in the last month or so, and Pablo has had some good results recently. I think Fed has a bounce back event, and he him and Tyson go through.

Ben and Connor make it past the semis and in a pool rematch, they play in the finals. Ben wins over Connor, but Connor gets a game on him.

Summary

This format of a season ending event is a great idea. The draft system and new or intriguing matchups is a great mixup from the normal PPA events.

Hopefully the PPA can do a better job marketing the event in 2024, so fans can stay engaged in it throughout the year.

Just like many PPA events this year, I picked Ben to triple crown and Anna Leigh to get two of the three, with Catherine upsetting her for the single’s title.

Hopefully there are some fireworks throughout the event and with so few matches, I am sure all of them will be televised.

Right after the finals, MLP San Clemente is taking place, with an abbreviated schedule. Be on the lookout for that preview this week.