After putting on an entertaining exhibition at the SHOW in Agua Caliente Casino on July 9, the Coachella Valley Scorpions finally got down to serious business beginning the 2026 season with a trip to Chicago for the first event of the MLP Champions series.
To review the scoring, there are 12 matches, each worth a point. Three men’s, three women’s and six mixed matches. The magic number to get to is seven to win the team battle.
The Scorpions Premier (50-and-over) team played day one against a very strong Indy Drivers team at the Picklr, Mount Prospect. Their play showed the effects of jet lag as they went 2-4 in the gender matches and repeated the same 2-4 showing in the mixed matches to lose the 12-point team battle, 4-8.
The afternoon battle against the Kansas City Stingers was a reversal of fortunes for the Scorpions, as they won all 6 gender matches. The mixed matches were a similar story as the Scorpions dominated 4-2 for a 10-2 victory and finished the day at 1-1. Keith Jain had a perfect day going 4-0, while rookie Dhruv Manchanda went 3-1.
Friday morning at Lifetime Fitness saw the same sluggish Scorpions team of the morning before. Against a revenge-minded Seattle Tsunami team, they took a commanding lead over the Scorpions in gender matches for 4-2 lead. Teammates Scott Burr and Dhruv Manchanda along with Piet Aldrich and John Riedy being the only pairs to capture a gender match. In the mixed matches the Scorpions were only able to win 2 of the 6 matches and Seattle took the battle 8-4.
But the Scorpions bounced back again in the afternoon just like the day before. Against the highly rated Palm Beach Royals, the Scorpions jumped out to an early lead, with the men sweeping all three battles and women Keri Olson and Wendy Ochoa giving the Scorpions the edge at 4-2 going into the mixed matches.
Keri Olson and Keith Jain started off with a 11-7, 11-10 win to get the mixed teams rolling. Valarie Ogawa and Scott Burr won their match, 11-4, 11-7, while Drita Rosen and Dhruv Manchanda won their battle 4-11, 11-8, 11-4 to secure the 7-5 win.
The Scorpions ended up with a 2-2 record for the two days, moving into a tie for sixth place with four other teams.
“This is a step in the right direction”, said team owner, Kim Jagd. “We know we’re not the same team as last year and now we are building a new version. We look forward to the process, and will embrace our growth, now knowing we have a strong foundation with talented athletes.”
In the new MASTERS (60-and-over) division, 8 players make up the pairings for each team battle with teams having a possible sub if needed. Former Scorpion teammates owner Kim Jagd, and Scott Burr (also playing in the Premier division) anchor the Masters team in their initial year. Barbara Dunne, Jasna Stefanovic, Lupita Curiel, Annie Feller and Kim Jagd make up the women’s side of the team. Burr, Rob Dennison, Howard Mendel, Glenn Erickson, and Dean Ayers are the men for the Scorpions. They are only 8 matches played (2 women’s, 2 men’s, and 4 mixed) so the first team to win 5 points is the winner.
Since there is a sub available to play, the Scorpions took advantage of this to look at a lot of different combinations of players to find the best combinations for the season.
They started out playing the #5 ranked Palm Beach Royals and dropping their first battle to them 5-3. In the afternoon, they took on the #2 ranked Suncoast Pelicans and fell to them by the same 5-3 score.
In a rematch with Palm Beach Royals the next morning, the Scorpions reversed scored winning 5-3. In the afternoon team battle against the Kansas City Stingers, the Scorpions dominated to win 6-2, giving them a 2-2 record for the weekend, just like their Premier counterparts.
This division could easily grow next year, as there were a lot of new faces that came out to test their ‘experienced” shoulders with the new hot paddles.
Another new division debuted this weekend, with the Prime (40-and-over) division making its first appearance with 4 players plus a sub. Former Palm Desert resident Morgan Evans partnered with Bret Bucher (Temecula) and sub-Lee Quigley for the men, while A.C. Meyer and Annie Tichenor brought more power and enthusiasm throughout the courts.
In this division there are only six points, so the number to win is four. It didn’t matter to our Scorpions as they swept the Detroit Disrupters 6-0. Their second outing was a convincing 5-1 win. On Sunday, the Palm Beach Royals pushed the Scorpions, but they responded with a 4-2 victory. Another 4-2 victory over the Columbus Hotshots ending for the Scorpions day with an unblemished 4-0 record, the same as the Austin Ignite in the other team grouping. Sharing the prize money, the Scorpions went home with $1,400 winnings to share.
All three Scorpions teams will play again in Dallas on August 6-9. Check the Scorpions website (scorpionspickleball.com) for the latest information and exact location.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Defending champion Scorpions have mixed results in 2026 opener
Reporting by Andy Banachowski, Special to The Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Andy Banachowski, Special to The Desert Sun | USA TODAY Network
