Results brief
The short answer: after day one of the first MLP Nations Cup at Brookhaven Country Club, near Dallas, Asia Domestic and Australia are the only unbeaten teams. Both are 2-0. The USA beat Canada 3-1 in their only match, and Canada are 0-2 with a point difference of minus 37. Six matches on Saturday settle the semi-final places, and the top two in each pool go through.
My preview said that if Asia Domestic won even one pool match, it would be the most significant result of the weekend outside the final. They won two on Friday. I’ll take the credit for spotting the storyline and none for the prediction, because I also had Canada finishing second in Group A. One day in, that looks about as solid as a paper umbrella.
What were the day-one scores?
Matches are made up of women’s doubles, men’s doubles and two mixed doubles games, in that order, with a DreamBreaker if it finishes 2-2. None of the six matches needed one. Times are Central (local) and London (GMT).
| Time (CT / London) | Pool | Result | Women’s | Men’s | Mixed 1 | Mixed 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 / 15:00 | B | Australia 3-1 Asia International | 11-9 | 12-14 | 11-3 | 11-7 |
| 11:30 / 16:30 | B | Europe East 3-0 Latin America | 11-6 | 11-7 | 11-8 | – |
| 13:00 / 18:00 | A | Asia Domestic 3-1 Europe West | 4-11 | 11-9 | 11-1 | 11-9 |
| 14:30 / 19:30 | A | USA 3-1 Canada | 5-11 | 11-4 | 11-0 | 11-1 |
| 16:00 / 21:00 | B | Australia 3-1 Europe East | 11-9 | 11-2 | 7-11 | 11-4 |
| 17:30 / 22:30 | A | Asia Domestic 3-0 Canada | 12-10 | 11-7 | 11-2 | – |
Scores are shown winner first. Every game score is from the official Nations Cup page on the World Championships site.
Was Asia Domestic’s double an upset?
On reputation, yes. On the scoreboard, it stopped looking like one fairly quickly. Against Europe West they lost the women’s game 4-11, then won the next three. The first mixed game finished 11-1. In the late match against Canada the opener went to 12-10, and after that Asia Domestic dropped nine points in two games.
The USA match carried the day’s starkest number. Canada won the women’s game 11-5. The USA then won the next three games 33-5, with an 11-0 in the middle. Canada’s captain, Steve Deakin, wears more hats than anyone in the event. Friday asked a lot of all of them.
In Group B, Australia played twice and won twice, which is exactly the schedule I said could become an advantage. Their one dropped game against Europe East was the first mixed. Earlier, Europe East had beaten Latin America 3-0, so the team I tipped to win the pool is 0-1. Canada, my Group A runners-up, are 0-2. If you’re counting, I am.
What are the standings after day one?
| Group A (Pool 1) | W-L | Game diff | Point diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Domestic | 2-0 | +5 | +22 |
| USA | 1-0 | +2 | +22 |
| Europe West | 0-1 | -2 | -7 |
| Canada | 0-2 | -5 | -37 |
| Group B (Pool 2) | W-L | Game diff | Point diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2-0 | +4 | +26 |
| Europe East | 1-1 | +1 | -2 |
| Asia International | 0-1 | -2 | -12 |
| Latin America | 0-1 | -3 | -12 |
I worked out the game and point differences from the official game scores. The official standings table uses the same columns. MLP has not published a tiebreak order for the pools, so I won’t guess at one.
What does Saturday decide?
- 10:00 CT / 15:00 London: Latin America v Asia International (B)
- 11:30 / 16:30: USA v Europe West (A)
- 13:00 / 18:00: Asia International v Europe East (B)
- 14:30 / 19:30: Latin America v Australia (B)
- 16:00 / 21:00: USA v Asia Domestic (A)
- 17:30 / 22:30: Europe West v Canada (A)
Group A. The USA control their own fate. If they win both matches, they top the group. If Asia Domestic beat the USA, they finish 3-0 and top the group themselves. Asia Domestic aren’t through yet, though. A defeat to the USA, combined with Europe West beating both the USA and Canada, would leave three teams on 2-1. Canada’s best possible finish is 1-2. They need to beat Europe West, and they also need the USA to lose both of their matches. Even then, they would have to win a three-way tie, starting from a game difference of minus five. Not impossible. Close.
Group B. If Australia beat Latin America, they finish 3-0 and win the group. If they lose, they go into the arithmetic. The opening match is close to a knockout. Whoever loses Latin America v Asia International drops to 0-2 and could only go through on a tiebreak.
Sunday. MLP’s published schedule has the second in Group A against the winner of Group B at 10:00 CT (16:00 London). The winner of Group A plays the second in Group B at 11:30 (17:30). The final is at 14:00 CT, which is 20:00 London. The US clocks go back early on Sunday morning, so the gap to London drops to six hours. The full schedule and rosters are in our Nations Cup preview.
A quick word on the method
All scores and standings come from the official Nations Cup results on the Pickleball World Championships site (worlds.unitedpickleball.com/nations-cup), checked at 05:50 London time on 31 October. Every Friday match was marked final. The semi-final pairings are from Major League Pickleball’s published match schedule. The official page doesn’t yet say which players played which game (“Check back” is its exact verdict), so this piece doesn’t credit individual players with individual wins. I’ll add that when it is published, with a dated update.
The verdict after day one: the favourites are fine, the outsiders are top, and my preview is having the kind of weekend Canada are.
