The Weekend Begins: Major League Pickleball and the Selkirk Labs Showdown Live Blog
Major League Pickleball Newport Beach kicks off today at 11:30am ET. You can catch the stream of Championship Court and the Grandstand Court.
The 5's got the first W of the day. They swept the Jackrabbits 4-0 in four close games. That is a great start for The 5's who are a top contender for the this weekend's championship.
Next up is another favorite, Florida Smash, taking on team Clean. These teams exchanged players in the offseason moving Michelle Esquivel to FL Smash and Maggie Reynse to Clean.
We lost the feed during this match but it looks like team Clean squeaked out the vitory. That is a little redemption for Maggie Remynse against her former team.
The Hard Eights also started the day with a win over the Chimeras.
The afternoon matches are live now. Teams will be wrapping up their second match of the day. After two matches each, we will have a decent picture at who will be moving on.
MLP is updating results here.
Day 1 Results
The Ranchers were the only team to escape day one without a loss. They beat The 5's in a big Group A matchup. Newcomer to the team, Jackie Kawamoto leads all players with a 4-0 record. She joined the team in the offseason via a trade for Maggie Brascia.
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Selkirk Labs Showdown
The Selkirk Labs Showdown started with the world's number one player taking a loss. Something very different than what we are used to.
Players will be racking up individual scores throughout the day. All of today's games are played to 15 win by 1.
After the long offseason, the Waters have returned ready to win. They top the standings on the women's side.
Watch Ben Johns hang out patiently in the middle of the court. He waits for the perfect time to take off and finish this point with an erne. 🛫
— The Dink Pickleball (@DinkPickleball) August 5, 2022
🎥: @ppatour pic.twitter.com/xghsiWmzHS
Pool play is complete and the pairing have been set for tomorrows bracket play. There are interesting matchups across the board but all eyes have to be on Ben Johns and Jessie Irvine.
They had a dominant win in their one game together today. They have to be the favorite to win the mixed doubles bracket. Collin Johns will be paired with Ben's usual partner, Anna Leigh Waters and will also be dangerous. Anna Leigh was leading the competition in point differential throughout the day.
In gender doubles, look out for Catherine Parenteau and Leigh Waters. Waters had a great showing with all of her pairings today. We could have a mother daugther matchup later in the day tomorrow. AL is paired with Callie Smith and I don't see them losing.
Ben Johns and Jay Devilliers might to too strong to beat in the men's game. Maybe the Jeff Warnick/Ryan Sherry can do enough to throw them off their game. The Tyson McGuffin/ Ben Newell will be exciting to watch. Newell has the potential to mix it up at this level. A pairing with TM could be all he has been missing.
