
4 things to watch for on Thursday at the Select Medical Orange County Cup
The Select Medical Orange County Cup presented by Reign Storm continues on Wednesday with Round of 16 action in all five pro events.
Here is the order of play:
Now, let’s get into what to watch for.
- Yufei Long and Ting Chieh (Jamie) Wei pulled off a stunning upset over No. 4 seeds Jorja Johnson/Lacy Schneemann on Wednesday. Members of the inaugural class of the UPA Asia Trailblazers Program, they will be looking for another big win when they face No. 14 seeds Alix Truong/Andrea Koop with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. Both players will also compete in singles on Thursday, with Long set to face No. 3 seed Kaitlyn Christian and Wei set to play top seed Anna Leigh Waters.
- Two teams from the men’s doubles qualifying rounds are still alive in San Clemente. The first-time partnership of Jonathan Truong/Sammy Lee advanced to the Round of 16 with an 11-9, 11-4 victory over No. 9 seeds Roscoe Bellamy/Matt Wright. They will face No. 6 seeds James Ignatowich/Collin Johns on Thursday. The other pairing is Riley Inn/Luke Williams. They fell in the final round of qualifying but advanced as Lucky Losers after Dekel Bar’s withdrawal from the event left an open No. 5 seed. Inn/Williams made the most of the opportunity on Wednesday with an 11-4, 11-5 victory over Ross Whittaker/Mota Alhouni and will be looking to replicate that success against No. 12 seeds Tyler Loong/Spencer Smith.
- In men’s singles, James Ignatowich and Rafael Lenhard are into the final 16 after three-game victories on Wednesday. The No. 46 seed Ignatowich overcame a Game 1 pickle to defeat No. 10 seed Zane Ford and will face No. 5 seed Jaume Martinez Vich next. In the other half of the draw, Lenhard followed up his upset of Ben Johns with an 11-4, 10-12, 11-3 victory over No. 37 seed Zane Navratil to extend his memorable run. He will face No. 13 seed Noe Khlif on Thursday.
- Match to Watch (Women’s Doubles): No. 5 Callie Smith/Allyce Jones v. No. 11 Zoey Wang/Brooke Buckner
This matchup pits Team Utah (Smith/Jones) against Team Las Vegas Night Owls (Wang/Buckner). Smith and Jones are among the steadiest players in pickleball and both consistently make deep runs with each other and other partners. Wang/Buckner have the power advantage here and have come close to knocking off top women’s doubles teams like Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacher. Don’t be surprised to see this one go three.
Action begins at 10am PT on Pickleballtv.
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