Eye-watering talent on show PPA Australia Gold Coast Event

JPPA Australia Reporter Gordon Watson previews the Gold Coast Event with special guest Sueme Rajpal.

GOLD COAST, AUS (August 27, 2024) –

The excitement around the PPA Australia Gold Coast event at the Royal Pines Resort is building, with top pickleball talent from around the world set to compete from 30 August – 1 September 2024. 

Whether a competitor or spectator, this will be the most star-studded spectacle of pickleball to ever be seen on Australian shores. 

Like all PPA Australia events it will feature five pro events including men’s and women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles.

The glittering Gold Coast event will have a big prize purse of $108,000, promising high-stakes competition and intense fierce match-ups.

The growing global reputation of PPA Australia has attracted pros ranked in the world’s Top 20 as well as top ranked players from a number of nations around Asia to come down under and play at this prestigious event.

On the hot watch list will be several incredible combinations, Shelby Bates and Emilia Schmidt, Kyle Yates and Wesley Gabrielsen, Dani Elle Townsend and Pei Chuan Kao, Armaan Bhatia, and Harsh Mehta and of course the Aussie combo of Mitch Hargreaves and Zach Grabovic. Those combinations are just the tip of the iceberg in what is an eye watering list of pickleball talent.

Not many people have studied the draw more than future Australian Pickleball Hall of Famer (yes, I am calling it) Sueme Rajpal. Sueme is an elite player, coach and administrator and loves all things pickleball, and he is super excited about the Gold Coast event.

Sueme said the combination he is most looking forward to seeing on court is George Wall and 18-year-old Lucas Pascoe. Sueme says, “George I think is the number one player in Australia and Lucas on the right with George’s guidance will come very good, I think. Especially after Lucas’ recent trip to the USA, he is playing the lights out.”

Sueme adds, “Another exciting team is Wes Gabrielsen and Kyle Yates. I think they have won the US Open together.”

Rajpal dispels the chatter that Yates is coming into the PPA Australia season underdone.

“I saw Kyle play yesterday in the park here and he was awesome!”

My messenger conversation continued with Sueme as we started to discuss women’s doubles. When it comes to the women’s draw, who is the team to watch? I asked. The bubble icons on messenger started instantaneously with an emphatic response from Rajpal. Dani and Pei.

Rajpal said, “Dani Elle Townsend and Pei Chuan Kao will be unstoppable. Dani’s work ethic has been crazy and she has worked heaps on her game including outside the court, whether its gym or the mental aspect.”

“Bates and Schmidt will be strong, but I saw Bates playing the other day and she might struggle playing here. I also think Roos Van Reek and Katy Hart will be good, but Katy needs to be consistent,” adds Rajpal.

When it comes to singles, we have a few usual suspects who are regulars on the PPA Australia dais, like Somer Dalla Bona, Roos Van Reek, Yu Chieh Shieh, Leander Lazaro, Mitch Hargreaves, and Armaan Bhatia, but they will be challenged more than ever before with the influx of top talent.

Rajpal is clear on who he thinks will be the ones to watch in the female singles draw.

“Women’s singles will be Pei Chuan Kao; she will be hard to beat. I see her or Emilia Schmidt winning the women’s singles,” Sueme said.

And with recent form from the English Open Pei Chuan Kao could be the one to beat. But now Emilia Schmidt is back playing on the PPA circuit in the US, one thing is for sure, we are set for an explosive women’s singles draw. 

The men’s singles peaks Rajpal’s interest also and he does not beat around the bush when it comes to sharing his favourites for the Gold Coast event.

“Armaan or Mitch for me,” says Rajpal.

At the time of writing this article both these men are playing in one of the biggest tournaments ever seen in India. If they do well there, they will bring back to Australia good form and confidence knowing they can beat the world’s best players.

The hip injury surrounding Aussie chance Zach Grabovic, could determine how far he goes on the Gold Coast. Scheduled for surgery later this year, it will be a case of whether the big body of Grabovic can stand up to the rigor of competing at the highest level. But a recent gold medal performance at Dalian, China, Zach has shown he can manage this injury successfully.

And what about the mixed doubles we hear you say. 

Well, Rajpal learns towards the tried-and-true combination of Armaan Bhatia and Pei Chuan Kao and the gold medallists from Brisbane earlier this year Joey ‘the wildman’ Wild and Dani Elle Townsend.

Rajpal said, “Mixed for me in terms of top teams and excitement machines are Bhatia and Kao and Wild and Townsend. I think they are just a tier above Mitch Hargreaves and Emilia Schmidt and George Wall and Somer Dalla Bona. These are my top 4 teams.”

“Shelby Bates and Kyles Yates are wild cards for me,” adds Rajpal. “I am not sure how they will perform in their first tournament here.”

Like many, I am looking forward to the impact Liz Truluck, Jamie and Prycen Haas, Marcel Chan, Phuc Huynh, and Ting Chieh Wei have on the PPA along with the already established big names who have been working hard during the season break like Bee Horsley, Ludovica Sciaky and Xiao Yi Wang-Beckvall.

There is an air of anticipation around the Gold Coast event, as the star-studded line-ups attract what is certain to be new attendance and viewership records for Australian Pickleball.

PPA Australia Gold Coast will take place at Royal Pines Resort from 30 August – 1 September 2024.

For more details about PPA Australia visit https://ppatour.com.au/

Catch up to the minute updates and draw reveals for the Gold Coast event stay tuned to the PPA Australia Social Media pages.