Will Howells Secures A Rare Triple Crown At The Association Of Pickleball Players Fort Lauderdale Open
The Association of Pickleball Players (APP) held its first 'major' tournament of the year this past weekend at its Fort Lauderdale 'The Fort' headquarters. Nearly 1,000 pros and amateurs descended on the facility, which also houses the sport's first ever dedicated youth and teaching academy.
By the end of the weekend, we'd seen something we haven't seen on tour in a couple years; a male Triple Crown winner. We also saw something we haven't seen perhaps since the dawn of the tour: a gold medal winner in their tour debut. Exciting times for the APP.
Click here for the UTRSports.net home page for the event, where you can get tournament details, draw sheets, and results.
Well, they say to be the best, you have to beat the best. Christopher Haworth had won the last eight (8) straight APP Pro Singles titles, but he could not stretch that streak to nine at the APP's headquarters. Will Howells, who has just one prior APP singles gold, has been mired with tough early-round matchups and has struggled to get to the podium for months. However, he had his breakthrough, topping Howells in the semis with relative ease 9,8 to earn his second gold medal match in the last three events.
There, he met Grayson Goldin, who made his sixth gold medal match in the past calendar year. Goldin last won a gold in Cincinnati in May, but could not hold back Howells on this day. The pair split the first two games in close 15-13 fashion before Howells tore away in the decider 15-5.
Other notable results included Irizarry getting a very early upset of top-4 seed DeHeart and Dusty Boyer downing Purple Jesus Manthou to earn a rare quarterfinal appearance.
Gold: Will Howells. Silver: Grayson Goldin. Bronze: Christopher Haworth
Kao stuns the field and wins in her pro debut.
The Women's singles draw was rocked early when former touring tennis pro Katerina 'Kat' Stewart ousted No. 1 seed Megan Fudge in the 16s. Stewart fell in the subsequent round to the new phenom Sofia Sewing, but it should be interesting to see where the current No. 18 ranked pro can go.
The story of this draw however was the performance of Taiwan star Pei Chuan Kao, who has been a fixture in Indian events and MLP Australia for months now and who was playing in her first known US-based event. Kao opened with a win over No. 11 Seed Klokotzky, then downed the legendary No. 6 seed Jardim, both in three. In the quarters she ousted the No. 3 Seed Hendry, then handled fellow upset-minded Warren in the semis to secure an unlikely spot in the finals.
In the final, Kao did the unthinkable, beating the two-time defending champ Sewing in two games 15-11, 17-15 to win perhaps the most unlikely gold medal in APP history.
Gold: Pei Chuan Kao. Silver: Sofia Sewing. Bronze: Judit Castillo
Erik Lange, who had never medaled in Mixed in his APP career, teamed with the formerly unknown Kao and went on a spirited run through the draw. They met their end in the semis at the hands of the No. 2 Seeds Megan Fudge & Jack Munro, who were trying to get back to the winner's circle for the fourth time as a team. Meanwhile, the top dogs and defending APP event champs No. 1 Will Howells and Bobbi Oshiro made fast work of their competition and secured the Sunday final from the topside of the bracket.
In the final, Howells & Oshiro dominated Fudge & Munro 4,6 to give Howells his second gold medal on the day.
Gold: Howells & Oshiro. Silver: Fudge & Munro. Bronze: Braverman & Schenk
The No. 1 seeds Will Howells & Jack Munro emerged from the top half of an upset-laden draw that saw the defending silver medalists and No. 2 seeds Lange & Manthou get destroyed in the round of 32 at the hands of Max Green & Jordan Chrysostom 11-1, 11-9. Similarly, the No. 3 seeds DeHeart & Livornese were ousted in the 16s by the No. 14 seeds William Sobek and Eduardo Irizarry, who then continued their run to the final from a depleted bottom side.
In the gold medal match, Howells & Munro were not to be stopped, crushing the underdogs 11-0 in game one and then holding on for a 13-11 game two win and the title. It's Munro's fifth Men's Pro doubles title in the last year, but more importantly the win sealed a rare feat; the Triple Crown for Will Howells.
Howells becomes the 5th ever man to win a triple crown on the APP tour, following in the footsteps of Ben Johns (Sept 2020 and Mar 2021), Jay Devilliers (Aug 2021), JW Johnson (three Triple Crowns between March and August 2022), and Zane Navratil (May 2022).
Gold: Howells & Munro. Silver: Sobek & Irizarry. Bronze: Barrientos & Kawka.
Newell (L) and Cederquist win in Fort Lauderdale.
Singles titlist Kao's gender doubles run ended early in the round of 16, at the hands of Sofia Sewing and Shelby Bates. Sewing and Bates weren't done; they turned around the next round and took out the top seeds Fudge & Braverman in three. This opened a pathway from the topside for the legend Simone Jardim to cruise into the final with partner Amanda Hendry.
From the bottom side, favorites and No. 3 seeds Susannah Barr & Bobbi Oshiro were shocked 11-0, 11-9 in the round of 16 by Florida teenager Alexa Schull, partnered with Leah Tauber. They made it to the semis before falling, a solid showing.
In the final, Jardim & Hendry met No 2. seeds Emily Cederquist & Yana Newell, who have quietly risen the rankings and now sit individually No. 3 and No. 6 on tour. Cederquist & Newell took the title 6,10, their first gold medal together since July 2024.
Gold: Cederquist & Newell. Silver: Jardim & Hendry. Bronze: Sewing & Bates.
The Pro Pickleball Medal Tracker has now been updated with these results; check out this link online for a complete pro medal history for all tours and all pro events dating to the beginnings of all the major pro tours, plus pro events that predated 2020.
Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule, Collegiate Nationals are this coming weekend, along with a Golden Ticket event at Legacy Park in Mesa, a site that's been in the news this week thanks to fraud indictments against its founders. After
Next up for the APP? The Vlasic Classic in Cincinnati the second weekend of May.
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