During his championship press conference at February’s Carvana Mesa Cup, Christian Alshon explained why he enjoys playing against Ben Johns in men’s doubles.

“I like playing him in men’s because I can be in front of him, so I can kind of control what he does,” he mentioned. “He loves to attack, and I love to counter on the right, and I think that’s something I do very well.”

Those two have faced off in men’s doubles eleven times so far this season through PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball competition, but they will partner up for the very first time this week at the PPA Tour Asia Panas Malaysia Cup.

“It’s not every day you get a chance to play with Ben Johns. I think we should do well, but you never know. There’s definitely some good competition and it’s only getting better,” Alshon said of the opportunity to compete overseas.

Alshon/Johns will, unsurprisingly, be the top seeds in a men’s doubles field that also includes Tyson McGuffin/Eric Oncins and Zane Navratil/Armaan Bhatia.

Alshon is also the top seed in men’s singles and will play mixed doubles with his Texas Ranchers teammate Kaitlyn Christian, who is the top seed in women’s singles.

Other notable partnerships include Christian teaming up with Chao Yi (Zoey) Wang and Anna Bright playing alongside Dutch star Roos van Reek in women’s doubles, as well as siblings Alix Truong/Jonathan Truong partnering up in mixed.

Main draw action from Shal Alam begins Thursday on Pickleballtv.