The Report
Wong Gets His Staksrud Rematch in Hong Kong
Good morning, pickleballers.
Hong Kit Wong has another chance to beat Federico Staksrud. Their last encounter ended 12-10 in the deciding game. This time, Wong has the home crowd behind him at the Hong Kong Slam.
Christian Alshon is out of men's singles following a withdrawal, Christopher Haworth and Noe Khlif are dominating their sections of the draw, and the women's competition has produced another Kaitlyn Christian-Judit Castillo encounter. Friday's quarter-finals are looking particularly good.
Wong gets another shot at Staksrud. This time in Hong Kong.
Hong Kit Wong defeated Francis Chi 11-8, 11-2 on Thursday to reach the men's singles quarter-finals without dropping a game. Waiting for him is Federico Staksrud, who recovered from an 11-2 opening-game defeat to beat Eric Oncins 2-11, 11-4, 11-6.
The pair last met in Hanoi, where Wong took the first game before Staksrud recovered to win 7-11, 11-6, 12-10. Wong has already demonstrated that he can beat elite opposition, including a straight-games victory over Connor Garnett in Hangzhou last December. Friday offers a more specific examination: can he reverse that narrow Hanoi defeat?
Elsewhere, Christian Alshon's withdrawal has sent Grayson Goldin into a quarter-final against 15-year-old American Tama Shimabukuro. Both are PPA Tour Asia singles champions. Shimabukuro has conceded just eight points across his last two matches, beating Timothy Foo 11-1, 11-1 and Luc Pham 11-2, 11-2.
Top seed Christopher Haworth beat Hien Truong 11-4, 11-3 and will meet Noe Khlif, who dispatched Harrison Brown 11-1, 11-3. Connor Garnett and Hunter Johnson complete the men's last eight, with Johnson eliminating Tyson McGuffin 11-8, 11-7.
Why it matters: These are direct tests of how the circuit's established champions compete against leading international professionals. For Wong, the question is particularly clear. He has already taken Staksrud to the brink. Can he finish the job at home?
Read the full Hong Kong Slam reportEight singles matches worth following.
The men's quarter-finals have four distinct stories. Haworth and Khlif have barely conceded a point between them. Goldin faces the teenager who has become one of Asia's most accomplished singles competitors. Wong gets his Staksrud rematch, while Garnett faces Australian Pickleball Cup singles champion Hunter Johnson.
The women's headline match is Christian against Castillo. Christian has conceded just four points in her two Hong Kong matches, but Castillo defeated her in Australia last week. Meanwhile, Chao Yi Wang ended Nok Yiu Tang's home singles run 11-8, 11-4.
Also worth watching: Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright opened women's doubles with an 11-0, 11-3 victory. They now face Sahra Dennehy and Danni-Elle Townsend in the quarter-finals, after the latter pair eliminated Allyce Jones and Kaitlyn Christian.
See the results and quarter-final analysisGive every match the coverage it deserves
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The Hong Kong Slam has delivered its quarter-final line-up. Now we find out whether Wong can reverse the Hanoi result, whether Haworth's dominance continues and who emerges from one of the strongest women's singles fields of the Asian season.
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