MLP Notebook: Dallas and Columbus Reach Super Sunday Unbeaten. Columbus Made It Look Easier

Dallas survived two Saturday DreamBreakers to win Group A. Columbus took control of Group B. They will now meet for 25 standings points, with one final match determining what their unbeaten weekends were worth.

Major League Pickleball’s San Diego group stage ended with two unbeaten teams, one congested section of the standings and a final day designed to make three days of work depend heavily on one more match.

The Dallas Flash finished top of Group A at 4-0. The Columbus Sliders went one better in the larger Group B, completing five matches without defeat. They will meet on Sunday for the largest allocation of standings points available this weekend, with 25 going to the winner and 18 to the loser.

Their records make them look like equals. Their routes through San Diego were rather different.

Columbus made its five wins look controlled. Dallas had to negotiate the pressure of two DreamBreakers on Saturday, beating the Atlanta Bouncers and Los Angeles Mad Drops to preserve its perfect record.

That distinction may matter when they meet on Super Sunday, although San Diego’s format is designed to compress everything that has happened so far. Dallas can turn two narrow Saturday victories into the maximum return. Columbus can convert three days of authority into the same prize.

Dallas pass the tests that Friday left waiting

Dallas entered Saturday at 2-0 but had not yet faced either of the teams that would eventually join it in Group A’s top three.

The Flash then came through DreamBreakers against Atlanta and Los Angeles, transforming an open group into an unbeaten first-place finish.

Their victory over the Mad Drops carried particular weight. Los Angeles had swept Dallas 3-0 at the MLP Mid-Season Tournament and arrived in San Diego among the teams with the clearest claim to the league’s top competitive tier.

This time, JW Johnson and Augie Ge gave Dallas an important foothold with their men’s doubles victory before the Flash completed the upset. It was not a comfortable reversal of the Mid-Season Tournament result, but it demonstrated that Dallas could remain close enough through the doubles games to bring its singles strength into play.

That became the theme of its Saturday.

Dallas did not separate itself from Group A by overwhelming the field. It won the moments that arrived after regulation doubles had failed to settle the match. A 4-0 record is an impressive return, but two DreamBreakers in one day also show how close the group came to producing a different winner.

Atlanta and Los Angeles both finished 2-2 behind the Flash. The Bouncers took second place on the tiebreaker, giving them a Super Sunday meeting with the SoCal Hard Eights, while the Mad Drops were placed in the third-place match against the California Black Bears.

Bay Area edged Utah for fourth after both finished 1-3. That distinction is worth more than a line in the table. The Breakers can still earn six standings points by beating Orlando on Sunday. Utah’s weekend is over with one.

The group stage rewarded Dallas for remaining unbeaten. Its finer margins continued to matter all the way down the standings.

Columbus turn Friday’s tie into Saturday’s separation

Group B looked less settled after two days.

Columbus and SoCal entered Saturday level at 3-0. Behind them, California and Orlando remained close enough to change the order, while Phoenix retained a route into the top four after splitting its opening two matches.

By the end of Saturday, only Columbus had escaped the compression.

The Sliders completed their programme at 5-0, turning what had been a shared lead into sole control of the group. SoCal, California and Orlando all finished 3-2, with the tiebreakers placing them second, third and fourth respectively.

That three-team tie captures how little room existed beneath Columbus. SoCal went from challenging for first to taking second. California, whose reconstructed roster had opened the event with legitimate questions about its immediate cohesion, recovered to earn a place in the third-place match. Orlando stayed within the points-paying positions but fell behind both.

Columbus avoided all of that arithmetic.

The Sliders’ reward is the chance to take 25 points from an event in which they have already won more matches than Dallas. Yet the format offers no additional protection for being 5-0 rather than 4-0, nor for reaching Sunday with fewer visible alarms. The two group winners enter the first-place match with the same opportunity.

Phoenix’s decline was almost as pronounced as SoCal’s change in position. The Flames began the event 1-1 but lost their remaining three matches to finish fifth. They receive one standings point and do not play on Sunday.

Florida finished 0-5 and receives none.

For those teams, the group stage was the tournament. For the top eight, it established which version of Super Sunday they had earned.

One more match determines the weekend’s value

The final-day system pairs teams according to their group positions rather than sending them through a conventional knockout draw.

Dallas and Columbus play for first, with 25 points going to the winner and 18 to the loser. Atlanta and SoCal play for 15 or 12. Los Angeles and California compete for 10 or eight, while Bay Area and Orlando play for six or four.

The structure means Sunday cannot erase the group stage entirely because teams that finished lower are competing for smaller rewards. Within each pairing, however, one match determines the final return.

Dallas against Columbus carries a seven-point difference. The second-place match is worth three. The third and fourth-place contests offer differences of two.

Super Sunday is therefore less a conventional championship bracket than the final allocation of value. The group stage determines the range available to each team. Sunday decides where within that range it finishes.

It also ensures there are no empty placement matches. California’s rebuilt roster can leave with 10 points or eight. Atlanta and SoCal can turn imperfect group records into useful returns. Bay Area and Orlando still have something measurable to protect.

At the top, Columbus can confirm that its reworked roster belongs among the leading contenders, adding 25 points to a season that already had the Sliders placed close to the top of the standings. Dallas can transform a weekend of narrow Saturday decisions into its largest possible San Diego return.

Both teams reached Sunday without a defeat. Columbus made the journey look easier. Dallas showed that it could keep winning after its control had gone.

Only the points awarded on Sunday will remain in the season table.

Further Reading

• MLP Notebook: San Diego Day Two Leaves Three Teams Unbeaten, but Saturday Will Decide What Their Weekends Are Worth
• MLP Notebook: Columbus Set the Pace as San Diego’s New Rosters Met Reality
• MLP’s Trade Market Is Open. Its 2027 Rules Are Still Being Written

Chris Beaumont

Founder and Editor-in-Chief

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at…

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