World No. 1s Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns reach Hong Kong Slam finals

World No. 1 players Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns advanced to multiple finals at the PPA Asia 1500 Hang Seng Bank Hong Kong Slam on Saturday after dominant semifinal performances at Kai Tak Arena.

In mixed doubles, Waters and Johns swept Ting Chieh Wei and Hunter Johnson 11-0, 11-1 to book their place in the final.

They will face Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin, who came through a three-game semifinal against siblings JW Johnson and Jorja Johnson, winning 11-2, 9-11, 11-9.

Waters also reached the women’s doubles final alongside world No. 2 Anna Bright. The pair beat Sofia Sewing and Catherine Parenteau 11-4, 11-0 and will take on Tyra Hurricane Black and Jorja Johnson in the title match.

Johns, meanwhile, progressed in men’s doubles with Gabriel Tardio after defeating Tama Shimabukuro and JW Johnson 11-7, 11-6.

The world No. 1 and No. 2 pairing recovered from an early 2-4 deficit in the second game to close out the match and set up a final against Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin.

The men’s singles final will be an all-American contest between Hunter Johnson and Tama Shimabukuro, while Australia’s Andie Dikosavljevic will face Spain’s Judit Castillo in the women’s singles final.

The Hong Kong Slam runs from October 19 to 25 at Kai Tak Arena and features men’s and women’s singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles.

The tournament has a total prize purse of up to US$1.1 million, or about HK$8.58 million.
 

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓