MLP Nations Cup: Team USA Wins Inaugural Edition as Asia’s Two Teams Have Contrasting Fates
It was the result everyone expected, and the Americans still made it look good. Team USA has won the first-ever MLP Nations Cup at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch, a Dallas suburb in Texas, and they did it in dominant fashion.
USA Lives Up to the Billing
With a lineup of Ben Johns, CJ Klinger, Will Howells, Anna Bright, Tyra Black and Kate Fahey, Team USA entered the weekend as the clear favourite. It would have been a surprise if they hadn’t won it all. Not only did they take the title, four of their five victories came in regulation.
On Championship Sunday (Monday in Asia), USA beat Team Europe East 3-1 in the semifinals, then cruised past Team Latin America 3-0 in the final.
“They were all really proud playing for their country,” said captain Johnny Goldberg. “Coming into it I knew they were all great players, but we really got them to come together as a team in 24 hours. They bought into everything and I felt like we were playing our best pickleball in that last match.”
For Bright, who had lifted the Women’s Doubles title in the Hang Seng Bank Hong Kong Open just a week earlier, the experience carried extra weight.
“It feels absolutely incredible,” she said. “All the USA chants, all the support, really meant so much and helped us feel like we were playing for more than just ourselves. I knew coming into this event that it would be a good time, but it was way more fun than I thought it would be.”
Asia Domestic Nearly Stuns USA
If there was an Asian storyline worth savouring, it belonged to Team Asia Domestic. The squad finished second in Pool A with a 2-1 record, opening with a 3-1 win over Europe West and following up with a 3-0 shutout of Canada.
Then came the match of the pool stage. Facing USA, Asia Domestic took the Americans all the way. USA won Women’s Doubles 13-11, but Asia Domestic hit back to take Men’s Doubles 11-6 and Mixed 1 14-12, and when USA levelled with an 11-4 win in Mixed 2, the tie went to the event’s first DreamBreaker. USA edged it 21-18 for a 3-2 victory and first place in the pool.
That loss still earned Asia Domestic a semifinal berth, where their run ended against a surging Latin America side, 3-1. Still, taking the eventual champions to the wire is nothing to hang their heads about.
Asia International Struggles
On the other side, the news was less rosy. Team Asia International, whose roster featured Rika Fujiwara, Lingwei Kong, Jimmy Liong, Tama Shimabukuro, Jack Wong Hong-kit, and Macy Ybañez, endured a tough weekend in Pool B and finished winless at 0-3.
They dropped a 3-0 decision to Latin America and 3-1 results against both Australia and Europe East, finishing at the bottom of the pool with a −7 game differential. It was a disappointing outing for a team with such recognisable names, though plenty of those players would take the loss as a lesson in what the team format demands: chemistry, built in a matter of hours.
The Field and the Bigger Picture
The inaugural Nations Cup featured eight teams and 48 players representing key regions of the world: Asia Domestic, Europe West, Canada, USA, Asia International, Australia, Europe East and Latin America. Along with USA and Asia Domestic from Pool A, Europe East and Latin America advanced from Pool B.
The event also served as the official kickoff to the 2026 Pickleball World Championships, which run for 10 days from 30 October to 8 November at Brookhaven Country Club. Last year’s championships set new records for pro pickleball in attendance, participation and viewership, and this year’s edition promises to be even bigger.
For Asian fans, the weekend was a mixed bag: a valiant run from Asia Domestic, a miserable one for Asia International, and a clear sign that when the world’s best teams meet, there’s still some distance to cover.
