MLP Nations Cup: USA Goes Perfect, Team Asia Domestic Shows It Belongs as Semis Loom
Two days, eight teams, one unforgettable DreamBreaker. The inaugural MLP Nations Cup has already given us drama, upsets and a Pool B finish that nobody saw coming, and it’s only the pool stage. Played at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch, Texas, the event serves as the official kickoff to the 2026 Opendoor Pickleball World Championships.
Each tie follows the familiar MLP format: first to three games across women’s doubles, men’s doubles and two mixed doubles matches, with a DreamBreaker if the score is level.
Pool A: Team USA Rolls, Asia Domestic Hangs Tough
If you were looking for a favourite, Team USA made the choice easy. Tyra “Hurricane” Black, Anna Bright, Kate Fahey, Ben Johns, CJ Klinger and Will Howells finished a perfect 3-0, with a +6 game differential and +52 point differential.
Their best performance was a 3-0 sweep of Europe West (11-5, 11-1, 11-2). Earlier, they shrugged off an early women’s doubles deficit to beat Canada 3-1 (5-11, 11-4, 11-0, 11-1).
But the match of the tournament so far came on Saturday, when USA faced Asia Domestic. The Americans took Women’s Doubles 13-11, then dropped Men’s Doubles 6-11 and Mixed 1 12-14. They levelled things with an 11-4 win in Mixed 2, then won the event’s first and so far only DreamBreaker, 21-18. That 3-2 victory locked up first place in the pool.
Not that Asia Domestic had much to be ashamed of. Augustus Ge, Milan Rane, Jonathan Truong, Chao Yi Wang, Ting Chieh Wei, and Len Yang finished 2-1. They opened with a 3-1 win over Europe West (4-11, 11-9, 11-1, 11-9), then blanked Canada 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-2). The heartbreaker against USA still earned them a semifinal berth as Pool A runner-up.
Europe West salvaged one win, beating Canada 3-1 (11-3, 2-11, 12-10, 11-6) to finish 1-2. Canada went winless at 0-3.
Final Pool A Standings
| Pos | Team | Record | GD | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USA | 3-0 | +6 | +52 |
| 2 | Asia Domestic | 2-1 | +4 | +17 |
| 3 | Europe West | 1-2 | −3 | −26 |
| 4 | Canada | 0-3 | −7 | −43 |
Pool B: Three Teams at 2-1, and Latin America Finishes on Top
If Pool A was about a favourite doing its job, Pool B was about chaos. Latin America, Australia and Europe East all ended at 2-1, and it was Latin America that came out on top, edging the group on game difference (+3) and point difference (+21).
It didn’t start well. Latin America opened with a 3-0 loss to Europe East (11-6, 11-7, 11-8). But they bounced back with two clinical 3-0 wins, over Asia International (11-8, 11-5, 11-4) and Australia (12-10, 11-2, 11-5). From the bottom of the pool to the top seed in a day? Not bad.
Europe East (2-1, +3 GD, +14 PD) took second place with a 3-1 win over Asia International (11-2, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7), after an earlier loss to Australia.
Australia also finished 2-1 but was sent home on the tiebreakers, despite strong early wins over Asia International (3-1: 11-9, 12-14, 11-3, 11-7) and Europe East (3-1: 11-9, 11-2, 7-11, 11-4). Asia International finished 0-3.
Final Pool B Standings
| Pos | Team | Record | GD | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin America | 2-1 | +3 | +21 |
| 2 | Europe East | 2-1 | +3 | +14 |
| 3 | Australia | 2-1 | +1 | +9 |
| 4 | Asia International | 0-3 | −7 | −44 |
Championship Sunday: What Time Is It in Asia?
The top two from each pool move into a single-elimination bracket on Sunday, 1 November. USA enters as the clear favourite, though Latin America’s late surge and Asia Domestic’s resilience suggest neither semifinal will be a stroll.
Texas will be on Central Standard Time (UTC−6) by then, which means the action lands on 2 November for most of Asia:
| Match | Texas (CST) | Manila / HK / Singapore / Taipei | Vietnam / Thailand | Japan | India |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semifinal 1: Asia Domestic vs. Latin America | 10:00 am | 12:00 am (2 Nov) | 11:00 pm (1 Nov) | 1:00 am (2 Nov) | 9:30 pm (1 Nov) |
| Semifinal 2: USA vs. Europe East | 11:30 am | 1:30 am (2 Nov) | 12:30 am (2 Nov) | 2:30 am (2 Nov) | 11:00 pm (1 Nov) |
| Final | 2:00 pm | 4:00 am (2 Nov) | 3:00 am (2 Nov) | 5:00 am (2 Nov) | 1:30 am (2 Nov) |
All matches stream live on PickleballTV.
Asia Domestic’s matchup is the one to watch for fans in the region. A side that took USA to a DreamBreaker now faces a Latin America team that has been hitting its stride. One more day of high-stakes team play will crown the first Nations Cup champion, and what the tournament has already shown is how deep pro pickleball has become around the world.
