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- Rosters announced for huge international event
Rosters announced for huge international event
Six Zero offering big discounts on paddles and gear this week
Major League Pickleball recently announced the rosters and captains for the inaugural Nations Cup, which will be held Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at Brookhaven Country Club in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, Texas.
Eight teams will represent key regions from around the world in the high-stakes, high-energy international team event. Find out which players will be competing (and who they are competing for) below.
In this issue:
How to NOT play mixed doubles 😬
We went to our first Pickle Money Ball event 💰
PPA Tour heads to Las Vegas this week 🎰
Warping Point officially launches Nightblade 🥷🏻
Send us your best amateur highlights 🎥
Get great deals on Six Zero paddles this week 😎
Let’s cook! 👨🏻🍳
LOWLIGHT OF THE WEEK
How to NOT play mixed doubles
Mixed doubles presents a difficult challenge. In most cases we want the male player to cover more court than the female player in order to create offensive opportunities.
But how much court is the right amount to cover? It’s a fine line, and it varies with every partnership.
If the male player doesn’t take enough court, the team will miss out on chances to score easy points. But if he takes too much court, that’s where we see disasters like this.
Like a lot of things in pickleball, communication is key — and it doesn’t look like these two are anywhere close to being on the same page.
🔗 Check out this clip on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok
GOT A CLIP WORTH SHARING? Each month we showcase the Top 10 Amateur Pickleball Highlights of the Month on our YouTube page. Submit your BEST clips for a chance to be featured in next month’s video using this form.
AMATEUR PICKLEBALL
What we learned at our first Pickle Money Ball event
The Kitchen Team was on-site at this week’s Pickle Money Ball Super Series event in Daytona Beach, Florida, where a total of $250,000 was up for grabs across all amateur divisions.
It was the fourth Pickle Money Ball event of 2026 — the organization was founded earlier this year and hosted its debut event in the spring.
Below are a few of our observations from this week’s tournament and Pickle Money Ball as a whole after seeing one of their events up close.
PLAYERS ARE CASHING IN
To date Pickle Money Ball has paid out about $1 million in prize money in their events, and about 700 players total have earned prize money.
Average earnings per player: $1,408.
And more than 20 players have earned $5,000 or more. Find the full Pickle Money Ball prize money leaderboard here.
A lot of the players we talked to this weekend made more money than what their entry fee cost, thanks to the fact that every division paid out to the Top 8 finishers in this week’s event, with $3,000 going to the winners in doubles events and $1,500 going to the winners in singles events. The bigger regional events pay out to the Top 16 finishers.
And it’s not just the higher-level players who are able to earn money. Pickle Money Ball has the same payouts for the 3.5 and under division all the way up to the 5.0+ division. That’s a huge change from traditional pickleball tournaments, which usually just give medals to the winners in the lower divisions.
“That’s a crazy amount of money to win, especially for us not being some pros or whatnot. It’s really cool for us,”said Gammy Velazquez, who took the title in mixed doubles 4.49 and under alongside 16-year-old Knightley Houston.
NEXT EVENT IN FORT LAUDERDALE
The next Pickle Money Ball event is a Regional in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It has a guaranteed total payout of $625,000, and the top finishers in each event will earn free entry into the Pickle Money Ball National Championship, which will be held in Las Vegas on July 26-31, 2027.
Use code “KITCHEN” for 5% off registration into all Pickle Money Ball events!
THE PROS
Anna Leigh Waters going for title No. 200 this week
After a week off, the PPA Tour is back in action this week from Las Vegas.
The 2026 Las Vegas Open started Monday with pro qualifying, and main-draw matches start on Tuesday, with one round in every division to be played each day through Championship Sunday.
As an “Open” event, there are 1,000 ranking points on the line for the winners in each division this week.
The event is being held at Darling Tennis Center, a massive outdoor facility in west Las Vegas that has been one of the tour’s premier venues since 2022.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
Anna Leigh Waters could reach a major milestone this weekend. She needs 2 more gold medals to become the first player in PPA Tour history to win 200 titles.
Waters will need to win both women’s doubles and mixed doubles this week in order to get there – she’s not playing singles in Las Vegas.
Ben Johns is close behind with 187 gold medals coming into this week, so he could also pass the 200 title mark by the end of the season.
PADDLE CORNER
Warping Point officially releases new Nightblade paddles
Warping Point this week officially released the brand’s new Nightblade lineup, which features two different paddles: the Nightblade 001 and Nightblade 002. Both are power-focused paddles, but they use different foam constructions that give them noticeably different feels and play characteristics.
In our video review, we break down both versions of the Nightblade, including the build, measured specs, feel, power, spin, and how they compare on the court.
The Nightblade 001 uses an MPP foam core with a TPE edge and is the more aggressive and powerful option.
The Nightblade 002 uses an EPP core with an EVA edge and delivers a more connected, controlled feel.
🔗 Check out our full review here or shop the new Warping Point Nightblade paddles here — use code “KITCHEN” at checkout for 10% off!
HONCHO PICKLEBALL LEAGUES
Registration for all Honcho winter leagues is officially open! League play starts the week of Nov. 9, and if you sign up now you get an EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT + an additional discount when you use code “KITCHEN.”
Note: No league play the week of Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years. 🥳
MAJOR LEAGUE PICKLEBALL
Rosters and captains announced for first-ever MLP Nations Cup
Major League Pickleball is introducing a new event this fall called the Nations Cup that will feature eight teams representing key regions from around the world.
The event will be played in Dallas over three days from Oct. 30-Nov. 1, with round-robin play on Friday and Saturday, then a single-elimination bracket on Sunday.
This unique international competition will serve as the official kickoff to the 2026 Pickleball World Championships, which will run over 10 days from Oct. 30-Nov. 8.
Below are the rosters and captains for each team:
GROUP A
Team Asia Domestic: Augie Ge (China); Milan Rane (India); Jonathan Truong (Vietnam); Zoey Wang (Chinese Taipei); Jamie Wei (Chinese Taipei); Len Yang (China). Captains Geoffrey Nguyen & Jeff Tsao.
Team Europe – West: Judit Castillo (Spain); Helena Jansen (Spain); Will MacKinnon (Scotland); Theo Platel (France); Estee Widdershoven (Belgium); DJ Young (Spain). Captain Chris Cantino.
Team Canada: Victoria DiMuzio; Blaine Hovenier; Armaan Jiwa Mawji; Layne Sleeth; Ryan Torresin; Angie Walker. Captain Steve Deakin.
Team USA: Tyra Black; Anna Bright; Kate Fahey; Ben Johns; CJ Klinger; Will Howells. Captain Johnny Goldberg.
GROUP B
Team Asia International: Rika Fujiwara (Japan); Lingwei Kong (China); Jimmy Liong (Malaysia); Hien Truong (Vietnam); Jack Wong (Hong Kong, China); Macy Ybanez (Philippines). Captain Madeleine Lim.
Team Australia: Sarah Burr; Chris Crouch; Sahra Dennehy; Mitch Hargreaves; Danni-Elle Townsend; George Wall. Captain Sange Carter.
Team Europe – East: Ivan Jakovljevic (Croatia); Andrei Daescu (Romania); Arwid Dahlin (Sweden); Lina Padegimaite (Lithuania); Tina Pisnik (Slovenia); Daria Walczak (Poland). Captain Caleb Garrard.
Team Latin America: Nico Acevedo (Chile); Mari Humberg (Brazil); Rafa Lenhard (Brazil); Eric Oncins (Brazil); Alexa Schull (Puerto Rico); Charlie Trevino (Mexico). Captain Juan Manuel Benitez.
GEAR
Six Zero offering huge discounts on paddles and gear this week
Six Zero is celebrating it’s 4-year anniversary with a huge sale this week.
Select paddles, apparel and gear are 50% off, including some of the brand’s most popular models.
QUICK HITS
Strategic: Pickleball is like chess
Athlete: This guy was a human highlight reel
Got him: The fake body bag is a crazy move
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