With some hot international talent featured across all 12 teams, all eyes will be on the teams with the big names. And while the big names may take some of the headlines, other teams will be looking to fly under the radar and strike when their opposition least expects it.

MLP Australia Reporter Gordon Watson looks at some of the match ups and gets some exclusive insight from Slam Jam Executive Adam Hall in this special preview.

Without a doubt, one of the most anticipated early matchups will be the defending champions the Northern Crocs and the Asia Aces.

The Northern Crocs will be tested early by the Asia Aces who are back boasting an agile and threatening line up in Season Two featuring two PPA stars in Phuc Huynh and Jamie Haas as well as the Taiwan tyro himself Neilson Chen alongside captain Venice Chan. 

The Crocs will be out to prove Season One was no fluke as captain Somer Dalla-Bona showcases her own impressive line-up of Indian champion Harsh Mehta, Aussie rising star Andy Dikosavljevic and Kyle Whatnall. This early match-up promises to be a real arm wrestle and could well lead to the first dream breaker of Season Two.

The Crocs will then face another challenge early in round two against the Western Vipers. 

The Vipers are packed with punch featuring top Aussie international player Emilia Schmidt and American PPA player Shelby Bates along with the fierce Ryan Henry and Captain Andy Horridge. 

The vibe around the Western Vipers is shared by Hall who says, “I’m really excited by the Vipers line up, especially the gals. Emilia and Shelby are going to be an exciting pair and will over power a lot of females they come up against. Ryan Henry in this format is going to be interesting. I’m excited to see him do his thing but even more excited to see what Andy can do with a strong male and a strong female partner by his side. He is a captain that wants success badly, and he has picked a team to give Season Two a red-hot go.”

In round one the Vipers face the Fast Fours who are a team touted as an early favourite and a ‘dark horse’ according to Adam Hall.  Captained by George Wall, this team will challenge any team this season with its line-up of PPA stars Liz Truluck and Ting Cheh Wei and season one number-one draft pick Lucas Pascoe. 

The Vipers v Fours match could well come down to the men’s doubles and how Pascoe performs in what will be a bell ringer of a first-round match-up.

Also, in round one arch rivals the Gold Coast Glory go up against the Eastern Rush who both finished high on the ladder last season. Eastern Rush Captain Katy Hart as recruited one of India’s finest players Armaan Bhatia, alg with Aussie Ollie Gray and powerhouse Jasmine Almaguer

The big question for the Glory is did they recruit strongly enough during the off-season. Philippine dynamo Sarah Jane Lim (SJL) has recently won some major events through Asia including a singles gold in Dalian China and will add some pop and vigour to the Glory line up of captain Sarah Burr, MVP player Roman Estareja, and local Gold Coast talent Vishal Masand. Adam Hall seems to think so and has them as a favourite to take out Season Two. 

Adam says, “Gold Coast have complimented the pairing of Burr and Estareja from Season One with local Vishal Masand, who trains often with Sarah. Sarah Jane Lim has a huge role. I don’t think she is there to be the star of the show. SJL is there to play a supporting role, be consistent, and compliment her teammates. I have high hopes for the Glory this season.”

The Gold Coast Glory has also appointed Martin Clark as team coach for Season Two which will be another factor that helps give them the edge. The home court advantage and local support will be a definite advantage for the Glory at this event also.

The question for the Eastern Rush is have they got what it takes to challenge teams in Season Two. Will the Ollie Gray combination with Armaan Bhatia be a winner and provide the balance to the team? 

According to Adam Hall it is the combination of Hart and Almaguer that is the one to watch. He says, “Almaguer is a beautiful striker of the ball and by all reports, she is as feisty as her team captain so I am really looking forward to seeing how players go that cross her!”

In other matches, the Sydney Smash will be out to make an early statement against the Southern Stars.

Smash Captain Mich Hargreaves recruited strongly snaring the ‘wildman’ Joey Wild, Selina Turlujia and PPA player Xiao Yi Wang Beckvall. On paper, the Sydney Smash look strong in all combinations and have a dream team for any potential dreambreaker scenario. 

This sentiment is matched by Hall who thinks the Smash look well placed to make the semi-finals at all three events. He says, “the Smash are a super strong team, especially the men’s pairing. They will be hard to beat and you wouldn’t want to have to win a dream breaker against these four!”

The Southern Stars won’t be overwhelmed though who are themselves one of the teams to watch with a star-studded line up of their own, featuring US Open Champion Daniel Moore, Aussie powerhouse Michaela Haet, Taiwan star Jou Yu Ko and captain big Jai Grewal. This match-up is tantalising and could well go to that dreambreaker scenario Adam mentioned

After finishing at the wrong end of the ladder in Season One New Zealand Hustle will be keen to show off their number one draft pick Danni-Elle Townsend against the South East Asia Surge. This match-up will be an early test for both teams and a defining match-up will be the women’s doubles and whether the pairing of American Michelle Esquivel and Townsend can get the job done against the class of Pei Chuan Kao and Yu-Chieh Hsieh. The Surge also has a strong men’s combination of Marcel Chan and Leander Lazaro which may give them the edge in this first-round match against the Hustle pairing of MLP Australia debutant Rob Stirling and Captain Matt Carter.

And if the Surge was not a daunting enough prospect for the Hustle, a second-round blockbuster against the Brisbane Breakers will be.

The Brisbane Breakers will be keen to show off American superstar Kyle Yates and Aussie teenage sensation Nicola Schoeman.  Then add Alex Fairbanks to the Breakers line up with Captain Ludovica Sciaky and you have the making of a dream team. On paper, the Breakers men look strong as do the muscle of the Hustle women. Will the absolute fire that Esquivel and Townsend bring to the game be too much for the Breakers, and could this be another dreambreaker moment?

We will get an early insight into the Brisbane Breakers when they take on the Melbourne Mavericks in round one. With Mavericks Captain Aaron Blitz is only able to play the Friday of the Gold Coast event, then we will see super-sub Wesley Vine come into the team to bolster the Mavericks lineup for the remaining games over the weekend.

This means Captain Blitz will star alongside Hall of Famer Wesley Gabrielsen in what will be a commentator's dream as they combine in the men’s doubles and then in the mixed with MVP Roos Van Reek and Tallia Saunders. The coin toss will be critical and the success of the Mavericks will come down to getting the mixed doubles combinations right against the likely Schoeman/Fairbanks and Yates/Sciaky.

The Mavericks will insert super sub, Wesley Vine into the team to face the Surge in round two. It will be a case of the Surge seeing double, in namesake anyway, with the two ‘Wesleys’ spearheading the Mavericks attack. The Mav's come up against the tried-and-true combination of Yu-Chieh Hsieh and Pei Chuan Kao from the Surge. The big question is will this be enough to give them the edge in this encounter or will the Mav’s two Wesleys provide an edge of their own?

Whichever way you look at it, the MLP Australia Season Two opener on the Gold Coast is set to be an excitingne, and is expected to break attendance and viewership records for Australasian Pickleball as each team tries to get their share of the $700,000+ prize pool.

MLP Australia Commissioner Sange Carter says, “The Season Two opener at the Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast is going to be the most exciting pickleball event ever to be played in Australia. We must thank our sponsors, team owners, investors, players, referees, and our volunteers who make these events such a spectacle. MLP Australia has attracted some of the world’s best players to our shores, and is a huge step forward in the development of pickleball in the Asia Pacific region.”

MLP Australia
30 August – 1 September 2024
Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast

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Tune in to watch MLP Australia YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@ppatour.australia

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