This weekend, the first round of the Major League Pickleball (MLP) playoffs took place in San Diego, California, at the Barnes Tennis Center.

The Premier Level saw all 10 playoff contenders converge to fight it out for one of the four spots in the semifinals in MLP New York next weekend.

In Challenger, all six teams played, with only two earning the right to play in the finals in New York.

Let’s get into the action.

Top Storylines The Columbus Sliders upset the Dallas Flash to earn a berth into the semifinals In what was a perplexing move, the Dallas Flash, the #2 overall seed, chose to play the Columbus Sliders in the quarterfinals. The Flash had the choice of playing the Texas Ranchers, Columbus Sliders, or the LA Mad Drops.

Many pundits mentioned this as a strategic error, including Zane Navratil:

Dallas Flash versus Columbus Sliders was the best MLP series of all time, but the fact that they even played was the worst strategic blunder of all time.

— Zane Navratil (@ZaneNavratil) August 17, 2025

While at the event, I was able to personally talk to Mark Molthan, the owner of the Dallas Flash. He confirmed the rumors that the players decided they wanted to play the Sliders. Many people thought they should have chosen to play the Texas Ranchers.

However, once they finished their first match, I thought it may have been a good decision, and here is why:

The Sliders were never going to beat the Flash in regulation, so the best they could hope for was a Dreambreaker ... FULL ARTICLE FOUND ON: https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/round-1-of-playoffs-in-the-books-final-four-teams-set-in-mlp/